24 June 2016

The event "Dialogue on Diplomacy" was organized by the EGIC in cooperation with the network of Italian diplomats to provide young students aiming to work in international relations and diplomacy with the opportunity to meet two former Ambassador of great prestige to discuss about the life of a career diplomat. The two speakers were:

Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, former Ambassador and Vice-Secretary General of NATO

Maurizio Melani, former Ambassador in Africa, Europe and Iraq.

The debate gathered a group of 30 of the best students and graduates from two different associations:  the Association of Political Science Students of Italy (ASSP Italy) and MUN Academy a Rome-based Associations that provides international training for IR professionals. The debate began with a brief presentation of the two Ambassadors' experiences. Ambassador Maurizio Melani, through the story of his experiences in Africa, also shed light on the Italian policy on International Cooperation, in the challenging times of de-colonization. Ambassador Minuto Rizzo, currently the President of the NATO Defence College foundation, focused mainly on his experience as Vice - Secretary General at NATO during the 1990s in the war-torn Balkan region and then thorough the launch of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative with the Gulf states. The students had the chance to ask for advices regarding their own careers in the Question and Answer session, and a practical insight on how the diplomatic career works.