Five Diplomats, One Conversation: Exploring Diplomacy in a World in Flux
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at Anatolia American University hosted a public forum on 12 May 2026 titled “Diplomacy in a World in Flux,” bringing together five career diplomats currently serving in Thessaloniki for an open discussion on the evolving role of diplomacy in an increasingly complex international environment.
As one of the final public events of the academic year, the forum directly reflected one of the Center’s founding missions: making politics, and diplomacy in particular, more accessible to the public while encouraging civic engagement among internationally minded young people.
The event also reflected the vision and legacy of Michael and Kitty Dukakis, as well as the civic-minded approach established by the Center’s first Director, David Wisner. At its core, the initiative sought to cultivate informed, responsible citizens who stay engaged with developments in their communities, their nation, and the broader international environment.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Christos Aliprantis, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Executive Director of the Dukakis Center, framed the event as an exercise in experiential learning, a core pedagogical principle at Anatolia. The goal was to reveal the deeply human dimension of diplomacy: to present to the public the individuals who negotiate, represent national interests, and navigate an increasingly volatile world, behind the symbols and suits. As Dr. Aliprantis noted, while news headlines tend to present international developments as large and impersonal, we understand relatively little of the human factor behind them, or of the professionals who materialize policy overseas and protect their nationals' interests abroad. The forum sought to give these practitioners a public standing and allow them to tell their story.
The event was supported by the Chair of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Maria Kyriakidou, and faculty members Dr. Lambrini Nassis, Dr. Pavlos Koktsidis, Dr. Tina Mavrikos and Dr. Ian Kehoe, who encouraged their students to attend.
Honorary Ambassador Theodoros Theodorou, who co-moderated the forum alongside Dr. Aliprantis, synthesized the discussion by highlighting that the consuls' interventions collectively demonstrated the great importance that neighboring and partner countries attach to Greece, not only for the historical and cultural depth, but for its long-standing institutional experience within the EU and NATO. He emphasized that the words of all five diplomats indicated Thessaloniki's increasing significance on the international scene and its ability to be a major center in the political, economic and cultural processes of the wider South-East European region.
The five consuls each brought a distinct national and personal perspective to the forum. Consul General Erida Dobrushi (Albania) placed EU integration at the center of her remarks, arguing that Albania's road into the EU is one with no time to waste, pointing to the Open Balkans initiative as a tangible tool to be prepared for the accession of the six Western Balkan countries.
The challenges and significance of the diplomatic service were explained by the Consul General Anton Markov (Bulgaria), who shared his own experience in crisis management – with a moving example of EU solidarity in the middle of a crisis in Dubai.
Consul General Corina Crețu (Romania), a former EU Commissioner, shared her story from the journalism to the European Commission, encouraging students to go out of their comfort zone and follow their dreams, and also observed that Thessaloniki was a city in the process of becoming more strategic, thanks to new road, rail and energy corridors.
Deputy Head of Mission and Consul Strohmenger (Germany) was candid about the sacrifices required of a diplomatic career, especially of having to relocate one's family from posting to posting, and of the importance of being a good listener, knowing one's counterpart's culture and history, and being loyal to one's country's interests.
Consul General Jean-Luc Lavaud (France) gave a well-structured talk on three skills required for a career in diplomacy: listening, understanding history and culture, and negotiation, and explained how France's history of cultural and scientific diplomacy, including the good relationship it has with universities, could be used to do more than just diplomacy.
Several powerful and interconnected themes emerged across all five interventions. All speakers agreed that diplomacy is no longer confined to ambassadors residing in capitals or negotiations behind closed doors, and that the career is organic and continually evolving. All five consuls also agreed that while AI can assist in data collection and analysis, it will never substitute for face-to-face contact, as the essentials of the job — understanding the individual, their history, their culture, their concerns — will never change. The speakers stressed regional solidarity and the need for Balkan states to stay together, with the reasoning that "many voices from many states are more powerful than one voice from one state," and consistently urged the need to treat negotiation and dialogue as continuous, not episodic. Their practical message to youth was equally consistent: start networking before you need to, travel, apply for internships overseas, talk to those who think differently, and do not fear failure. The forum engaged a wide audience of students from Anatolia American University and the University of Macedonia (ΠΑΜΑΚ), professors, educators, and consulate staff, and received extensive media coverage from Makedonika Nea and AMNA (Athens-Macedonian News Agency) and Makedonia to Business Daily, GRTimes.gr, TV 100, and the official social media channels of the French and Romanian Consulates General in Thessaloniki, all reflecting the forum's central message: that Thessaloniki is a hub of strategic, economic, and energy importance to southeastern Europe, and a hub of diplomacy, dialogue, and the development of the next generation of internationally engaged citizens.
