Project-based Policy Training
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Samuel Beckett, Westward Ho, 1983
In September 2017, Prantl was invited by the Rio Branco Institute (Brazil’s Diplomatic Academy) and the Policy Planning Unit of Itamaraty (the Foreign Ministry) to train the latest cohort of Brazilian diplomats to use the Strategic Diplomacy framework in Brazil’s foreign policy planning and conduct.
Goh and Prantl were part of an ANU team - Professor Brendan Taylor, Associate Professor Amy King, and Dr Iain Henry - that won an Australian Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grant worth over A$350,000, to deliver training courses specially designed for the Australian Defence policy workforce. They developed a specialist Strategic Diplomacy training program that was delivered in September 2019 and July 2021.
In 2021, Goh and Prantl's ‘Strategic Policy for the Asia-Pacific in Transition’ professional education program received an Australian Department of Defence grant of AUD 1,060,000 (about USD 815,000) until 2027. The grant supports the further development of a suite of Professional Education Courses for Defence, and the creation of a new set of Senior Executive Working Seminars. The Two-Part Working Seminar Pilot was delivered at Australian Defence in July and November 2024, focusing on so-called Black Elephants, a cross between a Black Swan (an unlikely, unexpected scenario with enormous ramifications) and the proverbial Elephant in the Room - a problem that everyone can see but would prefer not to address, even though we know that its occurrence will generate black-swan-like consequences.
To generate debate and rethinking, the Pilot asked: What if the United States turns inward, consumed by domestic turmoil, and disengages from the Indo-Asia-Pacific? How do key strategic partners in Asia and Europe position themselves in the broader context of deepening Sino-U.S. competition? How to navigate invidious choices between the United States and China? How to respond to Sino and/or U.S. revisionism in the region?
The professional education program is supported by Dr Nicholas Chan, post-doctoral Research Fellow, Tommy Chai and Paul Chamberlain, both PhD candidates at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU.
Itamaraty Palace (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Brasilia
“We are delighted to develop these valuable research-based policy training courses, which will deepen the two-way impact between academic and policy communities in Canberra and other capitals. The Strategic Diplomacy training courses provide research-based conceptual and policy planning tools, and empirical information essential for policy-makers dealing with the Asia-Pacific, helping participants to develop innovative policy solutions.”
– Evelyn Goh and Jochen Prantl, February 2019
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“We are very pleased that we obtained this new tranche of funding after the stellar feedback the team received for the work we have undertaken so far. This multi-year program is driven both by cutting-edge research into the fundamentals of 21st century strategy and statecraft and by deep policy engagement. It puts ANU in pole position to foster policy innovation through co-creation with key stakeholders in Australian strategic policy-making."
– Evelyn Goh and Jochen Prantl, June 2021
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"A thoroughly excellent set of sessions with great insightful context, delivered at a good pace."
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"Excellent program. Learned a lot and was very intellectually stimulating. Would be very interested to attend future programs."
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"All the sessions were excellent. They were good at articulating how complex theory can be applied to the real world and in a practical context."
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– 2023 Participants' Feedback on the Strategic Diplomacy Module
Prantl, Goh, and Chan with participants at the February 2024 Strategic Diplomacy professional education program for the Australian Department of Defence, ANU
