Guillaume Soto-Mayor (2016-17)

Student spotlight details

Guillaume made friends for life during his time studying on the Diplomatic Studies Programme and the experience developed his diplomatic, writing and negotiation skills. We asked Guillaume to reflect back on his time here at Oxford (2016-17).

'I was working within the United Nations (UNODC, UNSC) before joining the programme. I had been investigating criminal and terrorist threats and I had a quite bleak, narrow-minded view of diplomacy. I applied as I wanted to widen my horizons and to expand my "practitioner" views of the world with a wonderful variety of academic learnings, diplomatic practices, philosophies and cultures.

‘I particularly enjoyed the module content. I loved the intellectual debates with the 20+ nationalities across the room and we constantly shared insightful discussions with various guests. The small size of classes and the opportunity to discuss directly with brilliant lecturers allowed us to have truly insightful and thorough conversations on various topics. As well as gaining friends for life, the programme gave me more humility and professional discipline. I have so many favourite memories from my time on the programme: study trips, formal dinners, balls, my boxing team at Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club, Sunday markets, concerts in the Sheldonian...

‘I am currently the president of Egregor, a non-profit dedicated to catalysing for social and environmental transformations. I am an independent consultant and expert on political and security issues in Africa and Europe, a non-resident researcher at the Middle East Institute, and a senior researcher at the CRTG-Working Group and the Timbuktu Institute. 

‘Since my time on the Diplomatic Studies Programme, I have conducted field research and analyses on terrorism, organised crime, and religious, social and political violence across Europe and Africa. I am the author of several academic and non-academic publications and am a regular contributor to international media outlets (BBC, CNN, France 24, RFI, Al Jazeera, etc.). I am also the editor of the recently published book The Economies of Violence: the hidden variable (Brill). My time on the programme certainly played a key role in these achievements.

‘My time on the programme significantly enhanced my ability to critically evaluate both my own work and the broader context in which I operate. It greatly improved my interpersonal, diplomatic, writing, and oral skills. I certainly recommend it for generations to come!’

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