BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Diplomacy, stripped bare, is conversation taking place between global leaders behind closed doors. As with everything else, it is being impacted by global trends which keep emerging more rapidly than before. The IT age has seen a world, formerly home to a select few some ten to 20 years ago, now become the playground for everyday people. The speed at which conversation takes place, as well as the increasing numbers of sources adding to that conversation, has seen closed-door fora now become open arenas for discussion. Persons, once hidden in remote places and circumstances, now have opportunities to add to discussions that impact their way of life. How does all of this affect diplomacy?
