Letter from the Editors | On diplomacy and doubt

Published Jan. 31, 2025, 11:46 p.m., last updated Feb. 2, 2025, 11:58 p.m.

The concept of Diplomatique is as much a perspective on the Stanford student’s experience within international affairs as it is Stanford’s place in the international community. Our writers don’t always agree with each other. But we felt their pieces all had one thing in common: a desire to capture fragments of a world in flux, to take a snapshot of history and diplomacy unfold before our eyes. 

This magazine recognizes that diplomacy is not just treaties and summits, but the quieter negotiations of identity, of language, of belonging. That no single article can encompass the scope of a war, a movement, a history — but that words, carefully chosen and rigorously examined, still have weight.

The pieces in this issue often explore doubles: borders and bridges, pairs of lovers, exile and belonging. Diplomacy does the same, in various forms, and there lies no singular meaning of the title, diplomatique. We cannot fully capture the nuance of these connections within a dichotomy. We don’t claim to. The real act of diplomacy, of storytelling, is, at its best, a dialectic — a negotiation of perspectives, a tension of ideas, a willingness to engage with, rather than shy away from, the uncomfortable.

In this issue, a Thai refugee reflects on her return to her homeland, offering a poignant personal account of migration and identity. Another piece delves into the escalating threat to diversity, equity and inclusion under Trump’s recent executive orders, examining the implications for U.S. diplomacy. Closer to home, the ongoing debate over faculty representation at Stanford highlights the enduring challenges of institutional inclusivity. The soft power of sport takes center stage, as we explore how athletic exchanges can build bridges where politics often fails. Finally, the inaugural Congo Week provides a lens into the Democratic Republic of Congo’s historical complexity and evolving geopolitical significance. 

The world is too vast to fit into a single magazine. If there is a flaw in our approach, it is the inevitable one: the impossibility of containing complexity within the confines of any one publication. But in the attempt, in the interrogation of narratives rather than the assertion of them, we hope to contribute something worthwhile. The world is shifting. So must the conversation.

Rani Chor ’26 (B.A., international relations)

Judy Liu ’26 (B.A., history)

Judy N. Liu '26 is the Vol. 266 Desk Editor for Campus Life and Managing Editor for the Magazine. She studies history and political science. Contact Judy at judyliu 'at' stanforddaily.com

Rani Chor is a Managing Editor at The Daily. In previous volumes, she served as the University News Desk Editor and Public Safety Beat Reporter. Outside of writing for The Daily, she enjoys singing to her pet duck. Contact her at rchor 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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