Press release: Top International diplomat captivates Edinburgh audience

28th March 2024

Photo credit: EICC

Baroness Catherine Ashton delivered a powerful message about the power of diplomacy at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre this week

The event organised by the David Hume Institute as part of the EICC Live conversations shared unique insights from someone who was “in the room” negotiating with global leaders, including Putin and Obama. 

Baroness Ashton, who likes to be known as Cathy, called for compromise to be reinstated in the dictionary as a positive word:  

"I want to see compromise put back in the dictionary as a positive word. For instance a compromise candidate means they are the one which everyone can agree on. They are the most popular."

The conversation, hosted by former BBC journalist Clare English, took us behind the scenes of Baroness Ashton’s life as an international diplomat, sharing insights from building trust in negotiations to constructing trade deals and conflict resolutions: 

"Often deals are complicated jigsaws which negotiators have to fit together. When there are entrenched positions there is no fit and that makes it hard to solve the jigsaw. You have to build enough trust in the room that people can test out ideas they don't have a mandate for."

David Hume Institute Director, Susan Murray said

 “The audience of over 200 people were captivated by Cathy’s practical approach and humble nature.  As the US Consul, Jack Hillmeyer acknowledged in his vote of thanks to Baroness Ashton, like the song in the Hamilton musical, she’s been in the room where it happens on so many of the top issues facing the world. It was a privilege to hear Cathy in-person in Edinburgh.”

The event recording is free to view here