News & Highlights

The Challenges of Public Diplomacy in a Modern World
Faced with the fast moving global challenges of climate change, security and the current financial crisis, the new diplomat can no longer rely on traditional forms of public diplomacy.Today's diplomat needs fresh approaches and innovative tools to deliver coherent, value based narratives in order to bring about change.

Pursuing justice in ongoing conflict: examining the challenges
The request by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against the president of Sudan focuses attention on the difficult decisions about pursuing international justice during ongoing conflicts. How can peace processes and the pursuit of criminal justice be mutually reinforcing?

What's wrong with being radical? Atlantic Youth Forum
Who are the superpowers, what’s wrong with being radical and who’s reading my Facebook? These are just a few of the questions posed to this year's Atlantic Youth Forum at Wilton Park.

Implementing the responsibility to protect
Protecting vulnerable populations from “genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”, in the words of the UN General Assembly’s 2005 resolution, is at the core of the concept of the responsibility to protect (RtoP), adopted at the 2005 World Summit, the world’s largest ever gathering of heads of state and government. The international community has often failed miserably in the past to provide this protection. Representatives from the UN, regional and sub-regional organisations, diplomats from some 20 countries from around the globe and civil society experts met at Wilton Park between 11 and 13 July in a conference on “Implementing the responsibility to protect: the role of regional and sub-regional partners”.

Energy and Climate Security Post-Bali
The annual high level conference convened by Wilton Park and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) meets immediately after the G8 summit in Japan. The event could not be more timely. With record oil prices and increasing concern about climate change, public attention is focussed on whether a deal can be achieved between the G8 countries and the emerging economies of the South, particularly with India and China. The Bush Administration has made it clear that the US will only sign a deal if India, China and other major emitters join a new agreement. For the first time, the US agreed in a joint G8 declaration to "consider and adopt ... the goal of achieving at least 50 per cent reduction of global emissions by 2050 ..."

AVIATION: POST KYOTO CONTROL STRUCTURES
This conference was held in response to growing concerns about the likely effects of rapidly expanding air transport on our environment. Given the likely future growth in aviation, mitigating actions will be necessary at policy level to reduce emissions and their effect on global temperature rises. The Conference at Wilton Park provided a forum for stakeholders to explore what structures might work best, both in the environmental and political context. Debate between stakeholders was lively. National and international policy makers, scientists, NGOs and industrial and commercial parties contributed their viewpoints and discussed how best to tackle the issue of aircraft emissions in the future. The issue of shipping was also covered in some sessions.

Bangladesh: informal dialogue on key political reforms
Policy makers, opinion formers, civil society representatives and officials met at Wilton Park on 23 to 24 June for informal discussions about democracy, good governance and development in Bangladesh. The group reviewed achievements over the past eighteen months on democratic reform and anti-corruption, looked ahead to elections scheduled for December, and assessed the policy challenges that will confront the next elected government.

Improving International Efforts to Tackle Fraud
Fraud is often perceived as a 'victimless crime' or one whereby the victims themselves are 'guilty of greed'. This under-estimates the real hardship and distress which fraud can cause. There are often reputational risks for governments or financial institutions in admitting the scale of the problem. However, as the conference demonstrated, practitioners have some highly effective tools available for the detection, investigation and prosecution of offenders. As a cross-border crime it should be tackled through robust cross-border co-operation. The conference, which took place during the UK Presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), built on Wilton Park’s financial crime series which has previously included discussions on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing.

Improving protection of women in war
In the 60th anniversary year of international peacekeeping, and coinciding with the commemorative day of international peacekeepers, on 29 May, Wilton Park’s conference will discuss what more can be done to protect women from sexual violence and other abuse in armed conflict and its aftermath.

Romanian President Addresses Third Wilton Park Conference In Romania
Does the January 2008 EU Commission Energy Security and Climate Change Action Plan suggest a viable way forward for increasing energy security and reducing carbon emissions? How can the 2020 renewable energy targets be met? How are developments in the Black Sea Region impacting upon the region's growing importance as an energy transit route from Central Asia and the Middle East to the EU? How can the Black Sea synergy be used to enhance energy co-operation? How will energy supply from Russia develop? How are political dynamics affecting the location of proposed pipelines?

Foundations for international development
How can private funders achieve maximum impact for development? In a ground-breaking departure, Wilton Park convened its first conference on development funding by trusts, foundations and philanthropists. Participants from Uganda to the USA, Ireland to Indonesia discussed the issues in an intense 48-hour conference.

Delivering healthcare to the poorest - the private sector can play a significant role
If progress towards the UN Millennium Development goals in health is to be made in low income countries a quantum shift is needed in the delivery of healthcare. This will need a significant strengthening of health systems from primary through to tertiary level. Governments in low-income countries cannot do this alone, or even with donor support. Wilton Park’s conference on “Public Private Investment Partnerships in health systems strengthening” explored the current role the private sector is playing in health delivery in some developing countries. Their involvement is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades.

Jim Murphy addresses Wilton Park Conference in Istanbul
At the second Wilton Park conference in Istanbul entitled "Turkey's Accession Process to the European Union" , Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, stated "The EU must send a clear message that if Turkey meets the high standards of membership, it will join the European Union".

Prospects and challenges for Pakistan's new government
As Pakistan’s new federal government takes shape in Islamabad, former government ministers, politicians, opinion leaders, analysts and civil society representatives from Pakistan gathered at Wilton Park to discuss future policy options with counterparts from other parts of the world. Participants discussed how to strengthen democratic institutions in Pakistan, how to promote stability in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), countering terrorism and addressing corruption.

Indonesia rising? Indonesia’s prospects and challenges reviewed
Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia's Foreign Minister since 2001, opened Wilton Park's conference on political and economic prospects in Indonesia on Monday 3 March, together with Meg Munn, MP, the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for Indonesia.

Ukraine builds on WTO accession
Ukraine is seeking to push ahead on an ambitious programme of internal reform while strengthening ties with multilateral organisations, such as the EU and NATO, but internal instability threatens the process.

A spirit of optimism for the Caribbean in 2020
A spirit of optimism for the Caribbean in 2020 was voiced by those participating at the conference recognising that a generational change is taking place in the region. This optimism was tempered, however, by a recognition of the urgency which is needed to address the huge vulnerabilities which the region faces as a result of climate change, to encourage greater governance and to work towards greater integration of the wider Caribbean region.

Civil-Military Co-ordination in Complex Humanitarian Situations
Maintaining the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality is becoming more difficult for humanitarian organisations in conflict zones, especially if they need to rely on peacekeeping forces to help protect those they are assisting. Experts and representatives from the humanitarian community and the military met to discuss the changing nature of humanitarian assistance. The military will increasingly be partners for humanitarians whether as peacekeepers, or in some form of integrated mission as in Afghanistan. Practical ways need to be further developed to ensure that those affected are provided with humanitarian support.

Macedonia's MPs in intense discussions at Wilton Park
26 MPs from Macedonia, including the President of the Assembly, have taken part in a special conference, finishing on January 26, which is aimed at assisting Macedonia’s preparations for EU accession. They took part in 4 days of intensive discussions on agreeing ways of improving the work of the Parliament The follow-up work will be continuing in Skopje. The event is supported by the European Commission, the British and Dutch Governments, and by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

European Development Policy: Aid Effectiveness And Key Priorities
Policymakers from the EU and developing countries, together with non governmental organisations and academics, met from 21-24 January at Wilton Park for a strategic and creative dialogue on the effectiveness of European development policy. With input from the Department for International Development and the European Centre for Development Policy Management, the group discussed Europe's development agenda and potential reforms. The group considered ways to improve aid effectiveness in preparation for the Paris commitment review meeting in Accra in September: the closing session was led by the Ghanaian Finance Minister.