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Tom Fletcher

Contributor

When the pandemic recedes, the world may see the rise of new soft powers

Soft power will have changed in fundamental ways due to Covid-19

May 5, 2020

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June, 2019. AP

Viral diplomacy: in the age of coronavirus, how statecraft and summitry will have to adapt

At this time of global crisis, we need fewer face-to-face meetings and literal handshakes – but diplomacy more than ever

March 12, 2020

Helen Clark, UNDP administrator and former prime minister of New Zealand, at the New Zealand Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark on how to achieve world peace: 'We need to renew that spirit of global cooperation'

Helen Clark, head of the UN Development Programme, tells us what needs to be done to create a more peaceful world in 2020

January 25, 2020

The UK has slipped to second place in the Soft Power 30. Reuters

Soft power is about attraction rather than coercion

Real soft power flourishes when people are free to be creative and calls for nations to be magnetic

October 27, 2019

US President Donald Trump at last year's United Nations General Assembly. Jeenah Moon / Bloomberg

UNGA 2019 comes when co-operation and consensus are at their weakest points

The United Nations needs to rise to the challenges posed by technology and speak to a younger generation

September 22, 2019

Sir Kim Darroch, Britain's former ambassador to the US, resigned after his confidential cables were leaked last week. Victor Blue / Bloomberg

The Kim Darroch debacle shows that we need our diplomats to be honest more than ever before

As a former ambassador, I know how important it is that diplomats do not resort to vanilla platitudes to err on the side of caution, writes Tom Fletcher

July 13, 2019

Bridges, such as San Francisco's Golden Gate, are all about opportunity and innovation. Getty Images

Bridges will take us into the future, while walls will keep us trapped where we are

The world is becoming an increasingly divided place, but all around us valuable and courageous connections are still being made. Now we must all endeavour to do the same

February 19, 2019

A man looks toward the Spanish port of Crinavi from the deck of the migrant-rescue ship Proactiva Open Arms. AP / Olmo Calvo

The optimist's guide to 2019

While it may not have the most auspicious of beginnings, the coming year will present many opportunities to change the world for the better

January 1, 2019

Graduates queue to have their photograph taken after a graduation ceremony at Oxford University in England. Paul Hackett/Reuters

The university of the future will be inclusive, innovative and creative

Old models of academia have been overtaken by our fast-moving, networked world. It's time for radical change

October 28, 2018

The UN is not perfect but it might be the only tool we have for global co-existence. Julie Jacobson / AP

Beyond the protocol and the preening, the tedium and tantrums, what happens in the UN matters to all of us

The organisation might not be perfect but no one has come up with a better idea for global co-existence or the challenges facing humanity

September 23, 2018

US President Donald Trump waves as he disembarks Air Force One after arriving in Singapore June 10, 2018. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Why Trump should have studied Churchill before Kim summit

The success or failure of talks in Singapore may depend on the unlikeliest of matters

June 10, 2018

Fake news is intended to make individuals question everything that is put before them. Sean Gallup / Getty

In a digital age, can mainstream media match Silicon Valley's lure?

Ahead of The National's Future Forum tomorrow, Tom Fletcher asks how media outlets will stay ahead of the curve, retraining for the roles that robots cannot do

May 7, 2018

Casper Klynge, Denmark's tech ambassador, at The National's offices in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National National

How Casper Klynge is reinventing diplomacy as the world's first tech ambassador

Denmark's representative in Silicon Valley has met with scepticism since taking up his post, but he is convinced others must follow his country's lead

May 3, 2018

Avicii sent out his last tweet two days before his death last Friday / Sean Eriksson

Rest in tweet: the digital epitaphs that will live on after we're gone

We cannot imagine our lives without social media but will it start to become part of our deaths too?

April 22, 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the foremost practitioners of old power, while other nations are handing more power to the people. Itar Tass / Reuters

There are fewer wars when you take power away from men in big castles

The best ideas now spread sideways. We need to build solutions together – it turns out our survival depends on it

April 9, 2018

Science

Halime, 12, is engaged. Stefanie Glinski/ The National

'What choice do I have?' Covid-19 drives Afghan children into marriage

Asia

The bubonic plague, also known Plague bacillus or Yersinia pestis, is usually spread by fleas like this cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis), which live on rodents, though the majority of human infections in the US came from marmots and prairie dogs.

Bubonic plague: should we be worried?

World

Tonight's Chat with The National: Ricardo Karam is in conversation with Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki Al Faisal.

On the next Tonight's Chat: Prince Turki Al Faisal

Comment

Anti-government protesters block a street after the Lebanese Ali Mohammad Al Haq, 61, shot himself in the head at Hamra street in Beirut, Lebanon, July 3, 2020. According to media reports, Al-Haq shot himself dead due to the economic and social situation in Lebanon. EPA

‘There is no future’: scores of Lebanese flee economic crisis

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