"A good diplomat needs to interact with locals"

Diplomats who speak the language of their host nation have a better understanding of the issues they have to deal with on the ground. Photograph: Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images

When I was a young diplomat, excellence in a “hard” language, such as Arabic, Mandarin or Russian, was seen as a prerequisite for early promotion. In recent years, by contrast, hard language skills have been seen as too niche and, if anything, harmful to your career prospects.

Nothing epitomised this downgrading more than the decision, in 2007, to close the language centre of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The results were predictably dire: by 2012, language allowances – paid to those who are fluent in the language of their host country – were only being paid to 48 diplomats, out of 1,900. You could go so far as to attribute the decline in Arabic as a contributing factor in the Arab Spring.

A good diplomat needs to have the language skills to communicate and interact with locals on the street. It is not sufficient to be able to speak to the country’s leaders. It is, of course, an important part of a diplomat’s job to report, accurately, exchanges with the host government; but to anticipate trends and to detect straws in the wind you need diplomats who can mingle with those outside of government who may yet influence public opinion.

The decision by William Hague to reopen the FCO language centre is welcome, as is the belated recognition by the FCO that a language and cultural awareness are key skills for British diplomats. Yet, amazingly and uniquely among European diplomatic services – most, if not all, of which require excellent knowledge of two European languages as an entry requirement – language skills form no part of promotion criteria. It is as though an electrician’s ability to rewire was not considered a core part of their job.

Interestingly, the intelligence agencies, faced with the rise of international terrorist threats, have recognised the centrality of language skills to their work. Other parts of government involved in security are also reallocating resources towards language work. But this fragmentation is damaging.

Britain needs a strategic approach if it is to provide an overarching policy for the learning of languages in schools and universities; only then will we be able to improve language capacity among those charged with diplomacy and national security.

"A good diplomat needs to interact with locals"