Cross-cultural Competence as a Foundation for Professional Diplomacy in the New Post-COVID-19 Reality

Abstract

In this contribution we argue that cross-cultural competence (CCC or 3C) is being an indispensable proficiency in professional work of diplomats worldwide despite any changes that happened in professional interaction due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It is also suggested that deglobalizing processes significantly strengthened by COVID-19 have made the necessity for specialists professionally involved in international relations to acquire cross-cultural competence even greater than before. The current global situation shows that deglobalization — slowing down of globalization in all spheres of life — is a new reality and it is important to adjust to it as soon as possible. Cross-cultural competence is defined here as a complex of theoretical knowledge and key practical skills enabling to efficiently and successfully communicate with the representatives of different cultures and religious traditions as well as to feel psychologically comfortable in a foreign environment. A reduced number of personal business interactions lead to the urge for their higher efficiency that is supposed to be reflected in a better understanding of the interlocutor’s motivations, stands and reactions. At the same time cultural specifics remains the main factor shaping human communication whether it is conducted offline or online. Today as the tendency to conduct online conferences and meetings increases, we witness an increased need to learn to understand the attitudes of our virtual interlocutors, who are coming from various national cultures and traditions. In the course of online meetings, the necessity to correctly decipher their body language, for example, has decreased — one can hardly see a full figure on the PC screen. And consequently, verbal communication started to prevail over non-verbal one increasing the demand for proper interpretation of words, phrases, tone, mimics and gestures that are still very widely used during virtual communication. The next step would be using the most relevant arguments and approaches to deliver one’s own position and/or opinion. To successfully apply both mechanisms — of receiving messages and replying to them — during communication of people from different national cultures it would require the knowledge of cultural specifics that is provided by cross-cultural competence courses, training, seminars, or any other educational programmes. Programmes in cross-cultural competence are supposed to include at least three following components: 1) regional studies, 2) axiological orientations, 3) models and norms of behavior, while axiological orientations are seen as the most important one. Finally, the conclusion is made about a serious need to include cross-cultural competence programmes into the training of diplomats-to-be at the early stages of their professional education. At the same time, it is highly recommended for professional upgrade of the already serving diplomats worldwide. The methodological approach used in the present research combines content analysis of the post-COVID publications by the leading international experts in the diplomatic field as well as acting diplomats with the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) elaborated by the prominent American sociologist Milton Bennet. The latter is a six-level sсheme, according to which it is possible to figure the level of person’s skillfulness in cross-cultural communication.