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Minimal English and Diplomacy

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Minimal English for a Global World

Abstract

This chapter is an overview of different ways in which one might need to communicate cross-culturally and cross-linguistically in the course of diplomatic engagements (both routine and crisis) and asks how Minimal English might be able to assist the process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A somewhat gentler version of this anecdote can be found in Barber (2004: 216).

  2. 2.

    A valuable collection of essays which also illustrates this point can be found in Besemeres and Wierzbicka eds. (2007).

  3. 3.

    For an example of how such disputes can be prosecuted, see McHugo (2002).

  4. 4.

    Another notable British general, Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, had a similar upbringing and confessed that he thought more often in French than English: see Amery (1973: 417).

  5. 5.

    I owe this point to a very experienced and accomplished Australian official, who had an imperfect but engaging grasp of five languages other than English.

  6. 6.

    To this list one can add substantial specialized works by researchers such as Anna Gladkova, Jean Harkins, Bert Peeters, Jock Wong, and Zhengdao Ye.

  7. 7.

    This writer prepared a similar document for translation into Persian and Pushto for the benefit in 2003 of the Constitution Drafting Commission of Afghanistan: see Maley (2003).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    William Maley

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  1. William Maley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Cliff Goddard

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Maley, W. (2018). Minimal English and Diplomacy. In: Goddard, C. (eds) Minimal English for a Global World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62511-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62512-6

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