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Where do diplomats and representatives of international Geneva go to meet and cultivate contacts outside of the Palais des Nations? It’s not always a fixed location, but a community that creates a sense of place.
For half a century, the Geneva Diplomatic Club has brought together different circles of the city’s multilateral hub – punctuating social calendars with close-door events and conferences as well as cultural visits and excursions, including the odd ski trip. Its success has been built on the understanding that informal cocktails and receptions are often more conducive for dialogue and meaningful encounters than formal diplomatic settings. Its events have brought politicians such as former Cuban president Fidel Castro, and Russia’s former leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, through its doors – and more recently, the former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Wałęsa, and Filippo Grandi, the UN refugee agency high commissioner, last summer as he prepared to step down from his post.
Despite counting more than 900 paying members, including heads of international organisations, leaders from academia and private sector bosses, the Geneva Diplomatic Club’s president, Raymond Loretan, still considers it a “modest organisation”. “But our ambition is clear: to strengthen the informal fabric that makes international Geneva work,” he tells Geneva Solutions. Its anniversary coincides with one of the most difficult times for both the diplomatic hub and for international cooperation. Speaking to us in our offices, the former politician and diplomat, who served as Swiss ambassador in Singapore and consul general in New York, argues that it is an opportunity to rethink the status quo.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.
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