The instructional program at the Institute covers four distinct areas of instruction — theory, institutions, techniques and skills, and integration — which are described in more detail below. Ideally students follow a sequence that results in a natural progression in the learning process from theory to practice. Students’ knowledge of trade becomes deeper, and not just broader, as they progress through the program. 

The four areas covered by the instructional program are: 

Theory. Courses on theory provide the intellectual and conceptual foundation for the field of commercial diplomacy. This introductory phase of the program includes a heavy dose of economics, as well as courses in politics and policy analysis. 

Institutions. Courses in the second area of training introduce the institutional context of trade and trade policy. Courses cover international and national trade organizations, regional trading arrangements, and international trade law.  Other courses have covered the history of thought on trade, and the history and evolution of trade policy. 

Skills and Techniques. In the third area of training, students take courses that cover the framing of trade issues; the art of politics; relations with press, public, and legislative bodies; and negotiation tactics and skills. Simulations give students the ability to practice negotiation, advocacy, and dispute settlement skills in addressing current bilateral and multilateral trade issues. The use of student interpreters adds the additional dimension of working with speakers of different languages. Students are expected to integrate their knowledge of economics, politics, law, institutions, media, and culture into a coherent analysis of international commercial issues, and to develop an integrated strategy for advancing policy prescriptions desired by particular stakeholders. Students thus learn how to combine the disparate subjects previously covered in ways that will enable them to function effectively in the private and public practice of commercial diplomacy. They learn how to advance the commercial interests of their country or organization through the effective use of such advocacy tools as hearings, press conferences, coalition building efforts, and negotiations. 

Application in a Real World Environment. In the fourth phase of training, students learn how to apply everything they have leaned to current real world issues. They also learn how to develop effective operational strategies for advancing the interests of their country or organization through public advocacy tools, negotiation, and dispute settlement.  This phase of training could include courses in which students participate in simulated trade negotiations, courses involving studies of current cases, and courses that give students the opportunity to examine a particular issue in depth and to prepare an effective negotiating strategy.

At the end of the program, candidates for a Masters Degree in Commercial Diplomacy are expected to complete a master’s project on a current issue of their choice, acting on behalf of an identifiable stakeholder. Students are expected to analyze a specific trade issue in depth and to create a comprehensive, coherent set of policy recommendations for addressing that issue. Such an analytical exercise goes well beyond simply learning about trade policy. These exercises give students practical experience in integrating the commercial, economic, political, institutional, legal, and domestic policy analyses of an issue; in developing a strategy to address the issue; and in writing the papers, letters, press releases and op-ed pieces that policymakers and business people use to advance their interests. 

The Typical Masters Project includes: 

• An introduction, which lays out the issue to be addressed, why it needs to be addressed, and the key thrust of the author’s recommendations.
• A background paper, which lays out key background facts.
• Analytical papers which provide evaluations of (i) the commercial and economic issues, (ii) the substantive policy issues, (iii) the political landscape, (iv) the key domestic, foreign and international legal and process issues, and (v) issues related to public opinion and the media.
• A domestic strategy paper, with sub-components laying out (i) a domestic political strategy and where necessary a legislative strategy (including plans for lobbying and alliance building, and the use of advocacy letter), (ii) a domestic public relations strategy (including plans for using press and media, and the use of press statements, Q’s & A’s, speeches, op-ed articles, letters to the editor, and white papers), and (iii) a research strategy for building up additional information that could sway allies and protagonists (including the use of experts, support of conferences, etc.)
• A negotiating strategy, with sub-components laying out the overall approach to the negotiations, plans for building support in the foreign country or countries, a foreign press strategy, and advice on negotiating tactics.
• A full set of operational documents, including briefing memos, advocacy letters, a white paper, a press release, op-ed articles, public testimony, a negotiating strategy paper, and a budget.
• A PowerPoint presentation, which summarizes the key findings and recommendations.

The Masters Project is an important tool for teaching students how to collect background information, how to add value through analysis, how to use analysis to build a strategy, and how a strategy can effectively support the development of a policy or the negotiation of a trade agreement, Students need particular help in understanding the difference between background information and analysis, in grasping the central role of analysis to good strategy, and in appreciating the critical role of good analysis and strategy for a successful negotiation. Most students initially make the mistake of believing that a compilation of facts constitutes analysis, and that a mere list of proposed actions constitutes a strategy. They need to be taught that analysis represents the value they can add to the interpretation of the facts, and that a good strategy shows how various actions are designed to address problems or to take advantage of opportunities identified in the analysis. 

Throughout the program, students are asked to draft short, well-focused operational documents. These policy papers, briefing memoranda, negotiating instructions, reporting cables, press releases, testimony, op-ed pieces, and speeches are all focused on real world issues.  Comments by senior trade policy managers around the world indicate that one of the major shortcomings of their junior professionals is that they are not able to write short, succinct and well-organized briefing memos.

Outline of Model Curriculum 

A model curriculum would include courses or modules on the following topics:

Analytical Tools 

Policy Analysis
Commercial Analysis
Economic Analysis
Political Analysis

Laws and Institutions 

WTO Rules and Institutions
Regional Trade Agreements
National Trade Laws, Institutions, and Policies of key countries
Bilateral Investment Treaties; Treaties of Friendship, Commerce, Navigation
Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and the ILO

Commercial Diplomacy Skills 

Negotiations
Mediation, Dispute Settlement & Conflict Resolution
Consensus Building, & Coalition Politics
Managing Relations with Politicians, the Media & the Epistemic Community
Managing the Government/Business Interface
Public Speaking Skills
Cross-cultural Communications

Issues 

Tariffs & Quotas
Antidumping, Countervailing Duties
Industrial & Agricultural Support Programs
Regulation of Services (prudential, consumer protection, network integrity)
Health, Environment, Labor & Safety Issues
Labor Mobility
Foreign Investment
Anti-Bribery & Competition Policies
Civil Society
Integration of Trade Negotiations & Agreements into the Democratic Process

Training Materials for Effective Training in Commercial Diplomacy 

Implementation of an effective training program in commercial diplomacy requires the support of standardized training materials. There is an extensive literature on the global trading system and on the key trade issues on the global negotiating agenda. However, there are virtually no books and manuals covering the professional skills required by commercial diplomats, and very few case studies or simulations that can help students to apply these skills in a simulated environment for learning purposes.  This absence of an effective training literature is surprising in light of the large amount of money that has been spent by various organizations in training trade officials. 

The development of truly effective training in commercial diplomacy will require the development of instructional manuals and textbooks, case studies, negotiating simulations, and reference guides focused on the acquisition and application of the professional skills required of a commercial diplomat. An initial effort to fill this gap has been undertaken by a nonprofit organization dedicated to this task, The Institute for Trade & Commercial Diplomacy. [2]  This body of material will need to be updated continuously to keep students abreast of current professional best practices.

Knowledge Oriented Instructional Materials 

There is a fairly good inventory of textbooks, manuals, and professional articles covering the main areas of knowledge required of a commercial diplomat. There is always room for improvement in the content and presentation of the available instructional materials, but there is no shortage of such materials and recent years saw considerable improvements in their quality.  Many outstanding scholars have written extensive books on the rules of the WTO and the major regional trade agreements, and on the trade laws of the principal trading countries.  The WTO, in particular, has made great progress in developing web-based training materials on the legal provisions and functioning of the WTO.  

Trade policy oriented think tanks and scholars around the world have generated a rich professional literature on current trade issues. Such international organizations as UNCTAD, the World Bank, the OECD, the IBRD, and the OAS do an excellent job of integrating such information for practitioners.  An increasing number of websites provide helpful links to web based materials on current issues.[3] 

Likewise, there is no shortage of training materials on foreign languages, cultures, international economics, the history of economic thought and economic history.  Problems with currently available materials concern mostly the organization of selected portions of available materials into usable instructional documents, and the application of generic materials to a trade-related focus.

Skill Oriented Instructional Materials 

In contrast to the training literature that covers the principal areas of knowledge, there is virtually no literature on the development of the skills required of a commercial diplomat. Unfortunately, the practical aspects of trade and trade negotiations were never recognized as an area of professional training. There is therefore a paucity of generic training materials in the field, and a lack of training material customized to regional and national circumstances. The available standard texts that cover the various skill areas such writing or negotiations are too general and too focused on areas of application far removed from commercial diplomacy. Remarkable as it seems, no one seems to have written a published book or article on how trade policy should be made, though there are a number of books on how various countries have developed trade policy in the past, or the issues that trade policy makers need to address in the future.

Instructional Manuals and Text Books 

Ideally, a comprehensive training program in commercial diplomacy would include textbooks on (i) how trade policy should be developed and managed, (ii) how rule of thumb calculations on the economic effects of trade policy decisions should be made, (iii) how operational documents in commercial diplomacy should be drafted, (iv) how trade negotiators should approach the different kinds of negotiations, and (v) how a trade policy issue should be analyzed. The Institute for Trade & Commercial Diplomacy, Inc., has laid the groundwork for such textbooks by developing manuals on some of these topics and continuing to develop others. Ultimately ITCD expects to develop manuals on 15 core skills required in commercial diplomacy.[4]

Case Studies 

An effective training program should also have available an inventory of case studies that reflect the wide diversity of commercial interests. The case study approach, like that used in Harvard's Executive Training programs, is effective in teaching the operational aspects of commercial diplomacy. Trade case studies are built around historically important or particularly interesting trade problems and demonstrate how the problems were addressed through advocacy programs, legislation, negotiations or dispute settlement.  The case studies provide insights into the political and economic strategies that were employed by industry advocates, politicians and government officials.  Furthermore, they give both students and professionals a way to learn from past successes and mistakes. Case studies afford the critical opportunity to ask of past trade negotiations what went well, what didn't, and what could be improved. 

Simulations 

Simulations provide an opportunity for students to practice negotiation, mediation, dispute settlement, and public advocacy skills while addressing real world issues in commercial diplomacy. The nuts-and-bolts perspective provided by simulations provides an excellent way to train trade professionals.  Unlike historical case studies, the simulations are drawn from real-world situations on current outstanding issues. Simulations teach students how to integrate material from such diverse areas of knowledge as business, economics, politics, law, culture, public policy, and science; how to simplify and focus complex issues; and how to make decisions in the face of imperfect information and the time pressures typical in the real world. Simulations teach not only the art of negotiation, dispute settlement, and public advocacy, but also how to use research to pull together relevant information. Simulations based on current conflicts give students access to a rich base of contacts, the Internet, and other research sources, and thus demonstrates how research can be used to influence the direction or outcome of negotiations.

Glossaries or Dictionaries 

Commercial Diplomacy has a terminology all its own, and those new to the field are often baffled by terms and concepts regularly employed.  Glossaries and dictionaries give those new to the field quick access to terms commonly used in the conduct of commercial diplomacy.

Model Documents 

As previously noted, preparing operational documents is a crucial part of professional training in Commercial Diplomacy. It requires students to integrate their knowledge and analysis of an issue within the operational context of the documents that are the essential tools of Commercial Diplomacy. The list of operational documents includes: public policy statements, strategy papers, briefing memoranda, press releases, cables, public testimony, and speeches.  A sample of documents prepared by professionals in the field can be used to teach students how to write such documents. It gives them an idea what such documents look like, what they contain, and what makes them effective. Students also learn how different countries and cultures handle similar tasks.[5]

Multi-Media Aids 

Ideally, training materials in the skills of commercial diplomacy would be available in a multimedia format ideally suited to distance learning.  Thus PowerPoint presentations, video programs, and interactive web-based modules would accompany instructional manuals or textbooks. The materials prepared by the WTO on the legal texts and operation of the organization, which are accessible over the Internet at the WTO’s website, are quite innovative in this regard. 

Need For Human Resource Development And Institutional Capacity Building In The Trade Area 

The need for comprehensive training in commercial diplomacy is most obvious in the case of the disadvantaged economies, which includes the lower and middle tier of developing countries and the transition economies that are late entrants into the WTO system.  

The international trade community has increasingly recognized the importance of institutional capacity building and training in the trade area.  It is now one of the key issues on the agenda of the World Trade Organization. The heads of government of the G-8 countries — the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Russia — at their annual meeting in 2000, which was in Okinawa, stated in their communiqué that  “in view of the critical importance of trade for the development of developing countries, trade-related capacity building should be substantially expanded.” 

The shortage of trained trade professionals and the lack of training facilities for such professionals is undoubtedly one of the factors that explains the tremendous gap in perceptions between developing and developed countries of the extent to which world trade rules support and facilitate the economic interests of developing countries. While developed countries feel they have gone much further than developing countries in opening their economies to international competition and in binding their national policies to global rules, developing countries point to their much smaller share of global markets and investments as proof that the system is biased against them. 

The gap between developed and developing countries is clearly due to a number of factors, not just the differences in the institutional capacity in commercial diplomacy. Developing countries have justifiable concerns about barriers that remain on some of the goods and services they can produce competitively. Nevertheless, the fact remains that developed countries have opened their markets to a broad range of goods and services, and that many developing countries have found it difficult to take advantage of these open markets. The human resource constraints that prevent many developing countries to take full advantage of these market opportunities undoubtedly explains much of the difference in perceived benefits. 

Multilateral and Bilateral Technical Assistance Programs 

International trade organizations and national economic development agencies have developed well-funded training programs to fill the gap in trained trade professionals. The flagship of these courses is the three-month course for trade officials offered by the World Trade Organization in Geneva. UNCTAD offers courses focused on particular negotiating issues as well as broader courses for training the trainers.  The World Bank, in cooperation with the OECD and the IMF, at a training center in Vienna has offered courses in macroeconomic management to officials from the transition economies. National economic assistance agencies fund a broad range of short courses on trade issues. These programs have undoubtedly been invaluable in helping trade officials in developing countries to improve their understanding of global trade rules and negotiating issues.  

Despite the large amounts of money that have been spent on such training, however, the collective training effort has been inadequate to bring all the government officials and private stakeholders in developing countries, particularly in Africa and in the transition economies, up to a global level of professional competence in commercial diplomacy.  These countries still do not have enough trained professionals to assure both effective participation in international trade negotiations and effective implementation of the resulting trade agreements. 

One would be tempted to say that the solution is to spend more money on these programs. More money, however, would not necessarily be the answer because there is a serious shortage of professionals with the background necessary to provide effective instruction – namely former practitioners who have the inclination and capability to teach, or academics who have enough practical knowledge to train practicing professionals.  Much could be achieved, however, through the improvement of the design, organization and objective of technical assistance effort in this area. 

On of the serious shortcomings of the current technical assistance effort is that virtually nothing is being done to develop a local institutional capacity to provide effective training in this area in the countries themselves. There will never be either enough money or instructors available to train all the officials and other stakeholders in developing countries and transition economies that require a professional competence in commercial diplomacy, as long as primarily foreign experts provide instruction. The cost of providing he necessary training through foreign experts is simply too high, whether that is accomplished by sending the experts to the country or by bringing trainees from the country to international learning centers. The cost limits both the number of professionals that can be given the training and the duration of these programs.  These programs therefore lack the capacity to train everyone who needs it.  They even fail to provide an adequate pool of trained trade officials, since officials who have had the benefit of such training frequently move on to more lucrative positions.  The shortage of professionals with training in commercial diplomacy skills is so severe that officials with the requisite training are all too frequently attracted to jobs in the private sector, which pay much higher salaries. 

The number of individuals who need training in commercial diplomacy is far greater than often assumed. It includes not only trade policy officials, but also officials in all other ministries, departments, and agencies responsible for issues covered by trade negotiations. It also includes professionals responsible for government relations on trade issues in corporations, industry associations, labor unions, and non-governmental organizations. Moreover, it should include journalists, academics, and politicians who specialize in trade issues in their areas of professional competence. 

Most training provided through technical assistance programs is too short to provide the kind of sustained training over a sufficient period of time to develop real professional competence.  Two day workshops and two week courses are useful if they are part of a more comprehensive and systematic training program, or as a way of briefing otherwise experienced officials in a particular area. They do not add much to the professional competence of officials who lack the basic skills and knowledge.  

Another shortcoming of existing training programs is that they do not focus enough attention on skill development. Most of the training courses offered under the various technical assistance programs focus on international trade rules or issues on the current negotiating agenda. They do little to strengthen the analytical, writing, oral communication and negotiating skills of the participants in these programs. Adding training in skills to a course develops competencies in these skills. It also reinforces the learning of the substantive content covered by the course.  Skills related training also helps to add local context to the training.  Students learn to apply generic knowledge of rules and issues to local trade issues by analyzing an issue from their own perspective, communicating their findings through briefing memos and oral interventions, and advancing preferred outcomes through advocacy letters and simulated negotiations.  

As a natural outcome of the general absence of skills related training, there is a severe paucity of good training materials, particularly as it applies to the development of skills. The lack of such materials prevents students from continuing the learning process after the conclusion of the course. Trainees thus find it difficult to internalize and apply the knowledge and skills covered by the training.   

In sum, national economic development agencies and international economic organizations devote considerable resources to technical assistance programs in the trade area. They have been invaluable in helping trade officials in developing countries to improve their professional skills, but they have not provided these countries with an institutional capacity for ongoing training, nor have they given trainees a body of materials that would enable them to deepen their command of the subject matter after the conclusion of the workshop or course.

What is Required — The Development of a Local Institutional Capacity to Provide Training in Commercial Diplomacy  

Much could be achieved if more effort could be focused on training potential local instructors and supplying them with the necessary training material.

The Centre for Trade Policy and Law of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (CTPL) under grants provided by the Canadian International Development Agency has developed an approach that has been successful in combining training by foreign experts with an important element of local institutional development. CTPL, for example, has developed yearlong certificate training programs for senior undergraduate students attending universities in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev and Lvov. This program is supported by a local branch of CTPL in Moscow, which is staffed by local professionals trained by CTPL. The former head of this office is now the Russian Vice Minister for Trade. CTPL has organized similar program in Central America and Vietnam.  

The Institute for Trade & Commercial Diplomacy, Inc. has been commissioned to organize a comprehensive six-week training course for the Diplomatic Training Institute at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry under a grant financed by the US Agency for International Development. One of the aims of the program will be to strengthen the capacity of the Institute staff to provide such training in the future by exposing them to state of the art training materials and techniques. 

Clearly, more needs to be done to establish a local institutional capacity in the disadvantaged economies to provide training in commercial diplomacy. This could be accomplished by training indigenous instructors through training the trainer programs, by financing the development of professional training materials such as training manuals, case studies, simulations, multimedia aids and distance learning resources, and by supporting the establishment a network of regional and national training centers.  

Local and regional training centers providing instruction in commercial diplomacy should reach the full range of practicing professionals with responsibilities and a stake in international trade and investment. Such training centers should be largely staffed by local experts and only supplemented by foreign experts. They should have access to generic training materials reflecting global best practices.  They should also have the means to develop materials customized for the particular trade interests, laws, institutions, cultural values and practices of the regions or countries involved. 

Development of a Distance Learning Network 

Distance learning resources are an important component of any comprehensive effort to help developing countries build an institutional training capacity in commercial diplomacy.  Several initiatives have been launched that could provide an important foundation for the development of an effective network of distance learning resources. 

The World Bank’s Global Distance Learning Network utilizes World Bank facilities around the world to deliver instructional materials in areas covered by World Bank programs. Instructional material is derived from courses developed by the World Bank Institute, and the World Bank is working with partners in other divisions of the Bank and outside organizations to develop additional courses. 

A second initiative in distance learning has been organized by the International Training Center of the State University of California at San Diego (SUCSD), which broadcasts monthly programs to over 150 sites in Latin America.  These broadcasts have included an annual live broadcast on different aspects of commercial diplomacy. 

A third distance learning resource is provided by The Institute for Trade & Commercial Diplomacy’s web site, commercialdiplomacy.org, which makes training materials in commercial diplomacy available on-line. It includes a model structure for training in this area, course outlines, instructional modules, case studies, simulations of negotiations and dispute settlement, sample documents, and a guide to other resources available over the Internet. 

The Way Forward 

The key international institutions that provide training in trade policy and negotiations have recognized the need for training materials and distance learning, but a more systematic effort to build an institutional training capacity in developing countries is needed.

Global Inventory of Available Training Resources in Commercial Diplomacy 

Efforts to build an institutional capacity in commercial diplomacy training can be facilitated through the development of a global inventory of available resources. The Organization for American States has assembled such an inventory for the Americas with funding provided by the US Agency for International Development. The inventory was assembled by Louis A Salicrup and Gisela Vergara of the OAS Secretariat, and published by the OAS in 2000 under the title Trade Policy Education Resources in the Western Hemisphere: An Assessment of Demand and Supply. The study is also available through the OAS website http://www.sice.oas.org.

A Workshop on Institutional Capacity Building in Commercial Diplomacy Training 

Another useful step could be the organization of an international workshop on commercial diplomacy training. The proposed workshop could include presentations by the various international organizations and private educational institutions with programs in the area.  The presentations would cover the training materials each organization has developed, the educational philosophy underlying these materials, how these materials have been used, and current plans for the development of additional materials.  

The second part of the workshop would be devoted to a needs assessment and the development of an “ideal” curriculum and set of supporting training materials. 

A third part of the workshop would focus on a review of current training programs in developing countries, and on current and potential initiatives to create a sustainable local institutional training capacity in the developing countries. This discussion could be organized around a review of current initiatives by the various organizations and an evaluation of past successes and failures in establishing locally sustainable training institutions in the area.  

A fourth part of the workshop could focus on the effective development of a distance-learning network focused on commercial diplomacy.  

Conclusion 

Globalization increases the demand for professionals with skills in commercial diplomacy. The traditional approach of training new professionals through an apprenticeship cannot keep up with the demand. The lack of trained professionals, which is particularly acute in developing countries and transition economies, limits the ability of these countries to take advantage of trade opportunities created by trade liberalization. The training of competent professionals in the field requires a comprehensive approach to training that combines the learning of substantive content with the development of analytical, writing, oral communication and negotiating skills. To train the number of professionals required to develop, negotiate and implement trade agreements, technical assistance programs should help build a local institutional training capacity in the disadvantaged countries. This will require an increased focus on training trainers development of good training materials, and assistance to local or regional institutions that could provide the training.

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