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Supporting the International Diplomatic Academy of Tunisia

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Since independence from France in the late 1950s, Tunisia has pursued a foreign policy premised on maintaining good relations with all countries, avoiding military engagements and playing an active diplomatic role in the region. Given its strategic geographic positioning in a neighborhood plagued by recurrent violent conflicts and ongoing political instability, Tunisia is well-placed to play a larger role in mediating and mitigating regional conflicts and promoting durable peace and stability. Toward that end, USIP has recently launched a partnership with the new International Diplomatic Academy of Tunis, which is mandated to prepare current and future diplomats with the diverse skills in communication, facilitation, mediation, negotiation and management that enable success in international diplomatic contexts.

Flags of Tunisia (Wikimedia)

The Middle East and North Africa region has recently experienced complex and compounding conflicts that eventually escalated into violence, resulting in human rights atrocities, economic turmoil, waves of irregular migration, and political instability. Tunisia is now in the process of increasing its capacity to equip its current and future diplomats with the key peacebuilding skill sets that will allow them to be future leaders in conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation and peace.

In light of Tunisia’s ambition to play a larger role in promoting regional peace and stability, the government issued a decree in 2019 to expand the academy’s mandate, tasking them with carrying out a comprehensive overhaul and expansion of the training program to build diplomats’ capacities in core international challenges facing the region, the country and its diplomats.

In April 2022, the Chinese government handed over a newly constructed state-of-the-art diplomatic academy campus to the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Given USIP’s expertise and experience in supporting peace education, providing thought leadership on the world’s most pressing conflicts, and working with government institutions in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the Institute is well placed to assist the new academy to achieve its expanded mandate and to better equip diplomats with the skills to prevent, manage, and resolve regional conflicts.

Program description

Drawing on its distinct model of peacebuilding, USIP will support the design of an introductory curriculum in conflict management and mediation and develop the thematic expertise of lead instructors, in addition to supporting the academy’s leadership in strategic and operational planning. USIP will also provide guidance and facilitate knowledge transfers to help establish a strategic diplomacy think tank that will advise the Tunisian government on issues of diplomatic urgency, such as regional conflicts, as well as strategic insights and recommendations on Tunisia’s role in pressing regional and global issues.

Through this three-year project, USIP will assist the International Diplomatic Academy of Tunis in the following ways:

  • Developing introductory conflict management and mediation curriculum for academy diplomats.
  • Developing the thematic expertise of lead instructors and helping to establish a uniform standard of pedagogical excellence.
  • Guiding and mentoring the academy in its creation of an embedded think-tank function within the academy that aims to produce high-quality research that will inform Tunisian policy.
  • Support the academy leadership in strategic and operational planning in order for the Academy to achieve its ambitious objectives.
  • Leverage expertise from USIP’s networks of diplomats, practitioners, experts and others in support of the establishment, expertise and sustainability of the academy.