{"id":29171,"date":"2021-05-28T09:18:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T01:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/?p=29171"},"modified":"2021-05-28T09:18:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T01:18:15","slug":"why-some-diplomatic-events-cannot-go-virtual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/2021\/05\/28\/why-some-diplomatic-events-cannot-go-virtual\/","title":{"rendered":"Why some diplomatic events cannot go virtual"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"b3mf9-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"b3mf9-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"b3mf9-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"b3mf9-0-0\">Not all pandemic-related disruptions can be solved by Zoom video calls. Associate Professor Ian Chong <\/span><\/span><span data-offset-key=\"b3mf9-0-0\">(NUS Political Science) weighs in on the challenges of virtual diplomatic conferences in \u2018Why some diplomatic events cannot go virtual\u2019 (<em>The Straits Times<\/em>, 2021). <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"d0tb7-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"d0tb7-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"d0tb7-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"d559b-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"d559b-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"d559b-0-0\">A\/P Chong highlights the importance of physical presence during high-level conferences such as the annual Shangri-La Dialogue and the World Economic Forum, which was slated to take place in Singapore in August before being recently cancelled. For some, the attendance of diplomats allows them to make a political statement on the issues to be discussed. Others make political statements by \u2018duking it out over disagreements\u2019 during question-and-answer sessions or behind closed doors. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"8hipv-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"8hipv-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"8hipv-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"cmpjd-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"cmpjd-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"cmpjd-0-0\">A\/P Chong also notes that quiet and candid conversations can be more valuable for diplomacy as physical conferences provide the opportunity for informal discussions. Nonverbal and bodily cues allow diplomats to test out ideas and sense the positions of their counterparts, all without giving away too much information. Moreover, security concerns prevent informal exchanges from happening over video calls due to the fears of third parties eavesdropping into private conversations. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"7eunc-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"7eunc-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"7eunc-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"694mv-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"694mv-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"694mv-0-0\">These factors lead A\/P Chong to believe that future high-level diplomatic conferences will still take place in the flesh. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"ek8pj-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"ek8pj-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"ek8pj-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"apfcc-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"apfcc-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"apfcc-0-0\">Read the article here: <\/span><span class=\"py34i1dx\"><span data-offset-key=\"apfcc-1-0\">https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/why-diplomatic-events-like-the-shangri-la-dialogue-cannot-go-virtual\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div data-offset-key=\"apfcc-0-0\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cpric\" data-offset-key=\"cfatn-0-0\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_29172\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29172\" style=\"width: 446px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29172\" src=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/iStock-1205666989-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"shangri-la hotel\" width=\"446\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/iStock-1205666989-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/iStock-1205666989-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/iStock-1205666989-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/iStock-1205666989.jpg 1253w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singapore, Singapore &#8211; February 12, 2020: view of the main entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel host of the Shangri-La Dialogue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not all pandemic-related disruptions can be solved by Zoom video calls. Associate Professor Ian Chong (NUS Political Science) weighs in on the challenges of virtual diplomatic conferences in \u2018Why some diplomatic events cannot go virtual\u2019 (The Straits Times, 2021). \u00a0 A\/P Chong highlights the importance of physical presence during high-level conferences such as the annual [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":29172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29174,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171\/revisions\/29174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}