There is No Room for a Conscience in Diplomacy

Video Title: There is No Room for a Conscience in Diplomacy. Source: carnegiecouncil. Date Published: June 4, 2013. Description:

Independent Diplomat executive director Carne Ross describes the moral void of the British diplomatic service.

May 21, 2013. For complete audio and transcript, go to:
http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/studio/multimedia/20130521/index.html

"Indeed, as a diplomat working for a government, you are not particularly encouraged to be questioning or self-doubting about the message that your government is transmitting to the world. Indeed, such is the kind of overwhelming and invasive sense of belonging to the state that you start to talk about the state as if it was actually you. So instead of saying, "Britain wants XYZ," you say, "We want XYZ." If you're in negotiations at the United Nations, for instance, over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, you would say, "Britain wants to make sure that inspections are allowed without interruption in Iraq." The French diplomat would say, likewise, "France doesn't believe this," et cetera, et cetera. It is a protocol. It's a habit of diplomacy." - Carne Ross.