In this video, International Adviser to the Queen Mary Global Policy Institute and former British diplomat Martin Uden interviews Shazelina Abidin, diplomat and Director General of the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), the training arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia.
Shazelina talks about her career in diplomacy, including her time at Queen Mary, and her work as Director General of the IDFR preparing junior diplomats for the reality of work abroad by bridging the gap between academia and practitioners.
The two alumni discuss the challenges facing diplomats in 2023, covering Brexit, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Malaysia’s neutral stance on the conflict, as well as the country’s complex relationship with China, its biggest trading partner.
They also discuss the multilateral picture, including the role of the UN Security Council's five permanent members (the ‘P5’) in relation to Russia and Ukraine, and from the perspective of Martin’s experience as Ambassador to Seoul and as his time working as the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts on sanctions against North Korea for the United Nations in New York from 2012-14.
Finally Shazelina talks about how her time at Queen Mary shaped her career and how the University’s incredible diversity allowed her the platform to develop her own voice.
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