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The French (correctly) are proud of their cheese.
This is considered necessary for any decent family food, an excellent financial advantage for the country and, possibly, a more amazing, fantastic instrument of diplomacy.
That is why “diplomacy through the cheese” will become one of the round tables at an unprecedented two -day event of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is aimed at raising a veil about what diplomacy is and consider what is considered a growing deficit.
But, on the contrary, on the contrary, with Rockef, which, of course, French, this gap between diplomacy and the general public affects most democratic societies and may have serious consequences, experts on EURONEWS said.
“Indeed, there is a problem with how the diplomat profession is perceived and why it is used,” said Euronews, a former French ambassador to Belgium Claude, Franz Ard, a former Ambassador of France in Belgium.
This is mainly due to many cliches that stubbornly insist on being in the profession.
The collective imagination tends to represent the life of a diplomat as a life full of rich banquets, where bizarre fives are washed with endless bottles of champagne. This is the life depicted in the Netflix diplomat, which caused a lot of criticism from real diplomats.
Reality, however, tends to be much less glamorous.
“This is administrative work, file management, and interference in the work and promotion of the economy, business, culture and language,” said Christian Lexen, professor of political science in Sciences PO.
Many stereotypes were difficult to unpack precisely because the work is so diverse, but also because diplomats traditionally work behind the scenes, if not secret.
There is no taboo
And now, when the war is returning to European territory, a catastrophic conflict is unfolding in the Middle East, more and more “under the name“ foreign policy from Washington and China, more regular attacks on the legitimacy of multilateral organisms and more insoluble global crisis.
It would seem that an ambiguous audience does not help.
That is why a two -day conference called La Fabrique de la Diplomatie (“Factory of diplomacy”). The two -day event, which began on Friday in Paris, is aimed at correcting this perceived image deficit with a full schedule of lectures, round banks, games and laboratories.
The war of Russia in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the position of France against China, Syria, Iran, Africa or even the United States will be the basis of interests. But some of the events will also try to analyze how large multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations or the EU, are organized and organized. Discussions about international justice, cultural or feminist diplomacy, soft power and yes, even diplomacy, also have diplomacy.
High -profile personalities, such as Jean -Baros, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the country, will take part. But one of the events that is expected will be very popular is a quick purpose with active ambassadors where people can ask them what they want in coffee.
“It is clear that in today’s context, which causes special stress in all respects, especially for young people, La factory It was primarily developed as an educational exercise aimed at explaining major geopolitical problems, ”said Euronews, director of the diplomatic and consular academy and the brain of this Tidier Le Brett event.
“We turned to questions honestly, without any taboo. We deliberately chose all the problems that rightly concern the French, ”he added.
But there are at least two other goals.
Firstly, this is not limited to the highest political stages and that culture, enterprises and academic space also play a very important role in improving soft power, and also recall that the role of diplomats spreads to their country and their country is expanding and protecting the country. We are about 160 embassies.
And another goal is to “raise a connection” with citizens, said Le Brett.
“The French should understand that we do a lot with less than 1% of the national budget,” he added. “Each euro invested in Quai d’Orsay (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), produces much more euros, which then return to the pockets of France citizens through financial successes that we achieve. This is also what we will try to prove. ”
A particularly important message to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since its budget was reduced in 2025.
How politicians also affect diplomacy
The organizers La Fabrique They expect that at least 20,000 to 30,000 people will pass within two days. According to Arnold, excitement can be partially connected with the general preoccupied climate.
“I think it is much more difficult to understand diplomacy when everything goes well. And I think that we understand diplomacy much better in the days of great strategic crises, similar to those that we see today, ”he said.
However, it may not be enough to win public opinion, he added. The problem is that diplomacy is also affected by a growing distrust of some high -level policy, with the leading example of US President Donald Trump.
This observation is also separated by Lekesn Sciences PO, for which the emergence of “populist management methods” is responsible.
Leaders as Trump, but also the former president of Brazil Zair Bolsonaru or the prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, he said: “In fact, they are told that they practice diplomacy, and even at a higher level without the help of diplomats.”
“Very often, populist leaders do not like diplomacy specialists because they consider them rational experts, while they prefer a more emotional approach,” he added.
For their organizers, La factory This is not just the only event, but rather the first of the series of current initiatives aimed at strengthening the diplomatic profile.
The first initiative is that the ministry itself now opens its doors to visitors. Another is that the monuments and buildings related to diplomatic failures or successes will receive a special marking, while about 100 ambassadors were also invited to return to the lyceum, from which they finished in the coming months to talk with young people about the profession of a diplomat.
All this in order to guarantee that it will understand how it is done as much as possible … “diplomatic sausage” or in this case … cheese.