What is the duration of the IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute?

The institute runs for a period of ten days, from mid-August to late August.

What is the primary focus of this institute?

The institute focuses on applied diplomacy, aiming to provide practical skills for navigating complex international relations.

IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy

Name: IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy
Start: 2026-08-17T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-08-27T00:00:00Z
Location: Montréal

Aug 17–27, 2026Montréal, CanadaIn-person

Starts in 9 daysRegistration open

The IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy, held in Montréal, CAN, offers an intensive program focused on practical diplomatic skills. This institute is designed to equip participants with the tools necessary to navigate complex international relations and engage effectively in diplomatic practice. The curriculum emphasizes real-world application, drawing on contemporary challenges and case studies to provide a comprehensive understanding of modern diplomacy.

Committees & topics

Topics
The Evolution of Diplomacy · Diplomacy in International Relations Theory · Traditional Diplomacy: States and International Organizations · Changing Diplomacy: Agencies and Non-State Actors · International Negotiations, Past and Present · Digital Diplomacy · Municipal Diplomacy · Trade Negotiations

Why it matters

In an increasingly interconnected world, the demand for skilled diplomatic practitioners is paramount. This institute addresses this need by providing specialized training that goes beyond theoretical knowledge, focusing instead on the actionable skills required for effective diplomacy. The program's location in Montréal, CAN, a city renowned for its international character and multicultural environment, provides a unique setting for diplomatic training. This backdrop allows for a deeper appreciation of diverse perspectives and the complexities inherent in global interactions. The institute's format, spanning from mid-August to late August, facilitates an immersive learning experience, enabling thorough exploration of various diplomatic facets and fostering a comprehensive understanding of the field.

The relevance of applied diplomacy extends to various sectors, from governmental foreign services to international organizations and non-governmental entities. The ability to negotiate, mediate, and build consensus across diverse cultural and political landscapes is crucial for addressing global issues such as climate change, humanitarian crises, and economic cooperation. By focusing on these practical aspects, the IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute contributes to developing a new generation of diplomats capable of fostering peaceful and productive international relations.

How to prepare

Prospective participants should prepare by familiarizing themselves with foundational concepts in international relations and diplomacy. A strong understanding of global political dynamics, key international actors, and current geopolitical issues will enhance the learning experience. Reviewing materials on topics such as "Engagement Strategies" and "Dynamic Analysis" could be particularly beneficial, as these areas often form the bedrock of applied diplomatic work.

Engaging with case studies of successful and challenging diplomatic interventions can also provide valuable context. Consider how different countries, such as USA, CHN, or RUS, approach diplomatic engagement and the various tools they employ. Understanding the nuances of "Hidden Stakeholders" and the principles of a "Stakeholder Mapping Workshop" will be crucial for analyzing complex international scenarios. Additionally, reflecting on the role of "Gender Dynamics Across Cultures" in diplomatic processes can offer a more holistic perspective on effective engagement.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 3 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Canada

As the host nation, CAN provides a multicultural and internationally-oriented environment conducive to diplomatic studies.

Role in topic

CAN's commitment to multilateralism and its diverse population make Montréal an ideal location for an institute focused on applied diplomacy, offering a living laboratory for understanding cultural and political diversity in practice.

United States

A major global power, USA's diplomatic strategies and challenges are often central to discussions on international relations.

Role in topic

The diplomatic approaches of USA, including its engagement in various international forums and its bilateral relations, provide critical case studies for understanding the complexities and impact of applied diplomacy on a global scale.

China

CHN's growing global influence and unique diplomatic style offer important insights into contemporary international relations.

Role in topic

Analyzing CHN's diplomatic practices, particularly its engagement with developing nations and its role in international organizations, is essential for a comprehensive understanding of modern applied diplomacy and its evolving landscape.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

The Evolution of Diplomacy

Diplomacy as a structured practice traces its institutional roots to the Italian city-states of the 15th century, where Venice, Florence, and the Papal States pioneered resident embassies and codified diplomatic correspondence. The 1648 Peace of Westphalia anchored diplomacy in the principle of sovereign equality among states, and the 1815 Congress of Vienna formalized diplomatic ranks and protocols that endure today. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries, diplomacy remained a largely elite, bilateral, and secretive craft conducted by professional foreign services. The two World Wars transformed the field: the failure of the Concert of Europe and the League of Nations gave way to a more institutionalized, multilateral order built around the United Nations system after 1945. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations codified the modern legal framework of diplomatic immunity, mission status, and consular practice. Cold War summitry, decolonization, and the proliferation of new states further expanded the diplomatic community and its agenda. Today, diplomacy is in a phase of rapid evolution shaped by globalization, digital communications, transnational threats, and the rise of non-state actors. Public diplomacy, summit diplomacy, and crisis diplomacy increasingly coexist with traditional bilateral channels, while the very definition of who 'does' diplomacy has broadened beyond foreign ministries.

Key players

Diplomacy in International Relations Theory

International relations theory has long grappled with the role of diplomacy as both a tool of statecraft and a constitutive practice of the international system. Classical realists from Thucydides to Hans Morgenthau and Henry Kissinger view diplomacy as the management of power and the pursuit of national interest through negotiation, balancing, and signaling. For realists, diplomacy lubricates the balance of power but cannot override the underlying anarchy of the system. Liberal and institutionalist theorists, drawing on Kant, Woodrow Wilson, and later Robert Keohane, emphasize diplomacy's role in building rules, regimes, and institutions that mitigate anarchy through cooperation, transparency, and reciprocity. Constructivists such as Alexander Wendt and Iver Neumann instead treat diplomacy as a social practice that constitutes state identities and produces shared meanings; the English School (Hedley Bull, Adam Watson) sees diplomacy as a core institution of international society alongside international law, the balance of power, and great-power management. Contemporary debates extend these frames to digital, public, and networked diplomacy, asking whether classical theories still capture how influence is exercised when non-state actors, transnational publics, and algorithmic platforms reshape negotiation environments. The field increasingly draws on practice theory, sociology, and communication studies to explain how diplomacy actually works.

Key players

Traditional Diplomacy: States and International Organizations

Traditional diplomacy rests on the state as the principal actor and on a body of customary and codified law governing inter-state conduct. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations remain the legal bedrock, regulating mission establishment, accreditation, immunities, and the protection of nationals abroad. Bilateral embassies, consulates, and foreign ministries continue to form the operational backbone of inter-state relations. The 20th century layered an extensive multilateral architecture atop this bilateral foundation. The United Nations, its specialized agencies (WHO, ILO, UNESCO), the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF, World Bank), and regional bodies such as the EU, AU, ASEAN, and OAS host permanent missions and routinized negotiation processes. These organizations have become arenas where states pursue interests through coalition-building, agenda-setting, and rule-making, while also serving as employers of an international civil service. Despite predictions of its decline, traditional state-led diplomacy remains central. However, it faces strain from gridlock in bodies like the UN Security Council, contestation of multilateral norms by revisionist powers, budget pressures on international organizations, and the growing demand to integrate non-state voices into formally inter-governmental processes.

Key players

Changing Diplomacy: Agencies and Non-State Actors

The state-centric model of diplomacy has been progressively complicated by the rise of a wide range of new actors. Within governments, line ministries (finance, trade, defense, health, environment) increasingly conduct their own international engagement, often bypassing foreign ministries; specialized agencies, central banks, and regulators participate directly in transgovernmental networks like the Basel Committee or the Financial Stability Board. Beyond the state, multinational corporations, philanthropic foundations (Gates, Open Society), NGOs (ICRC, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch), and faith-based actors have become influential in setting norms and delivering outcomes. The Ottawa Treaty on landmines, the Rome Statute, and the Global Fund illustrate how civil society coalitions can shape and operationalize international agreements. Tech firms now negotiate directly with governments over content moderation, AI governance, and infrastructure access, raising questions about their quasi-diplomatic status. These shifts have produced concepts such as 'multistakeholder diplomacy,' 'track-two' and 'track-1.5' diplomacy, and 'catalytic diplomacy.' They raise unresolved questions about accountability, representation, and the legitimacy of non-elected actors in processes historically reserved for sovereign states.

Key players

International Negotiations, Past and Present

International negotiation has evolved from dynastic bargaining and secret treaty-making to highly structured multilateral processes. Landmark negotiations such as the Peace of Westphalia (1648), the Congress of Vienna (1815), the Versailles settlement (1919), and the San Francisco Conference (1945) progressively expanded the agenda from territorial and dynastic questions to collective security, human rights, and economic order. The Cold War era institutionalized arms control negotiations (SALT, START, INF) and elaborated techniques of verification, confidence-building, and back-channel diplomacy. The post-1990 period saw an explosion of issue-specific multilateral negotiations: the Uruguay Round creating the WTO (1994), the Rome Statute (1998), the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and Paris Agreement (2015), the JCPOA (2015), and the Global Compact for Migration (2018). These processes typically involve large numbers of states, formal and informal groupings (G77, EU, Umbrella Group), observers, and civil society, and rely on chair's texts, single negotiating texts, and consensus rules. Contemporary negotiation faces new challenges: gridlock in consensus-based forums, the weaponization of procedural rules, the difficulty of negotiating on fast-moving technologies, and the impact of domestic polarization on ratification. Scholars and practitioners draw on game theory, behavioral economics, and the Harvard negotiation tradition to understand and improve outcomes.

Key players

Digital Diplomacy

Digital diplomacy emerged in the late 2000s as foreign ministries began using social media, data analytics, and online platforms to communicate with foreign publics and to conduct elements of their work. The U.S. State Department's '21st Century Statecraft' agenda, the UK FCO's pioneering blogging program, and Sweden's 'Curators of Sweden' experiment marked an early phase often called 'eDiplomacy' or 'Twiplomacy.' By the late 2010s, most foreign services had institutionalized digital teams, real-time monitoring, and online crisis communication. A second wave broadened the agenda to the governance of digital technologies themselves: cyber norms negotiations at the UN GGE and OEWG, data flows and digital trade rules at the WTO and in regional FTAs, AI governance discussions at the OECD, G7, and through the 2023 Bletchley and 2024 Seoul AI Safety Summits, and the 2024 UN Global Digital Compact. States have also opened 'tech embassies' (Denmark's TechPlomacy, France's Ambassador for Digital Affairs) to engage directly with Silicon Valley and other tech hubs. Digital diplomacy now confronts disinformation campaigns, state-sponsored cyber operations, platform power, and the geopolitics of semiconductors and AI. It raises core questions about sovereignty in cyberspace, the role of private platforms in public communication, and the future of consular services in an always-online world.

Key players

Municipal Diplomacy

Municipal or city diplomacy refers to the international engagement of subnational governments — cities, regions, and federated entities — alongside or independently of national foreign policy. Its modern roots lie in the post-WWII sister-cities movement and in Cold War-era twinning programs, but it has expanded dramatically since the 1990s as urbanization, climate change, and migration produced policy challenges that cities could not solve alone. Networks such as C40 Cities, ICLEI, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the Global Parliament of Mayors, and the Strong Cities Network now coordinate municipal action on climate, resilience, human rights, and counter-extremism. Cities have signed onto the Paris Agreement's non-state actor tracks, hosted refugees in defiance of national policy, and built direct economic relationships with foreign partners. Paradiplomacy by regions such as Quebec, Catalonia, Scotland, and California further blurs the line between subnational and national foreign policy. Municipal diplomacy raises legal and political questions about competence, coherence with national foreign policy, and accountability. Yet it is increasingly recognized — including in the UN's New Urban Agenda (Habitat III, 2016) and the Pact for the Future (2024) — as essential to delivering global commitments where most of the world's population now lives.

Key players

Trade Negotiations

Modern trade negotiations were institutionalized through the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which conducted successive rounds — Kennedy, Tokyo, and most consequentially the Uruguay Round (1986–1994) — culminating in the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995. The WTO consolidated multilateral rules on goods, services (GATS), and intellectual property (TRIPS), and established a binding dispute settlement system that was central to global economic governance for two decades. The Doha Development Round, launched in 2001, stalled over agriculture, services, and development issues, prompting a turn toward bilateral and regional agreements: NAFTA/USMCA, the EU's network of FTAs, CPTPP, RCEP, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA, in force since 2021). The WTO Appellate Body has been effectively paralyzed since 2019 due to U.S. blockage of new appointments, and the rules-based trading system is under strain from U.S.–China tariff escalation, industrial policy revival, and weaponization of economic interdependence. Current trade negotiations increasingly address digital trade, services, subsidies, supply-chain resilience, labor and environmental standards, and the trade implications of climate measures such as the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The challenge is to reconcile open trade with security, sustainability, and domestic political legitimacy.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Delimitation Based on 2011 Census

India's 33% Women’s Quota in Lok Sabha 2029

Foreign Minister: Bahrain’s membership in UNSC (2026 – 2027) affirms its diplomatic leadership and global role in promoting peace and sustainable development

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Multilateral Negotiation

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

By committee

Frequently asked questions

IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy

Aug 17–27, 2026Montréal, CanadaIn-person

Starts in 9 daysRegistration open

Committees & topics

Topics
The Evolution of Diplomacy · Diplomacy in International Relations Theory · Traditional Diplomacy: States and International Organizations · Changing Diplomacy: Agencies and Non-State Actors · International Negotiations, Past and Present · Digital Diplomacy · Municipal Diplomacy · Trade Negotiations

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 3 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Canada

As the host nation, CAN provides a multicultural and internationally-oriented environment conducive to diplomatic studies.

Role in topic

United States

A major global power, USA's diplomatic strategies and challenges are often central to discussions on international relations.

Role in topic

China

CHN's growing global influence and unique diplomatic style offer important insights into contemporary international relations.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

The Evolution of Diplomacy

Key players

Diplomacy in International Relations Theory

Key players

Traditional Diplomacy: States and International Organizations

Key players

Changing Diplomacy: Agencies and Non-State Actors

Key players

International Negotiations, Past and Present

Key players

Digital Diplomacy

Key players

Municipal Diplomacy

Key players

Trade Negotiations

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Delimitation Based on 2011 Census

India's 33% Women’s Quota in Lok Sabha 2029

Foreign Minister: Bahrain’s membership in UNSC (2026 – 2027) affirms its diplomatic leadership and global role in promoting peace and sustainable development

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Multilateral Negotiation

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

J.W. Dafoe Political Science Students’ Conference 2026

Leadersphere 2026 Conference

CIC Toronto: Canada in a Fragmenting World – Navigating Geopolitics, Alliances, and Emerging Security Challenges

Parliamentary Symposium: The Future of Middle Powers After the Rupture: Perspectives from Canada and Beyond

Implementing Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy

2026 CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE CONFERENCE (CANIC 2026)

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

J.W. Dafoe Political Science Students’ Conference 2026

Leadersphere 2026 Conference

CIC Toronto: Canada in a Fragmenting World – Navigating Geopolitics, Alliances, and Emerging Security Challenges

Parliamentary Symposium: The Future of Middle Powers After the Rupture: Perspectives from Canada and Beyond

Implementing Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy

2026 CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE CONFERENCE (CANIC 2026)

Frequently asked questions