Why Infrastructure Matters

Watching major football tournaments has made me think about something that extends far beyond sport. At the highest level, success is rarely produced by individual talent alone. It depends on infrastructure.

A world-class football team requires youth academies, experienced coaches, strong domestic leagues, sports science, financial resources, international exposure, and regular competition against elite opponents. The same is true in academia.

World-class research depends on much more than brilliant scholars. It requires libraries, seminars, conferences, research funding, doctoral training, international networks, rigorous criticism, access to journals, and institutions that make excellence routine rather than exceptional.

Of course, exceptional individuals sometimes emerge despite weak infrastructures. History offers many examples. Yet sustained excellence—whether in sport, science, or the arts—is rarely achieved in this way.

There is, however, an important nuance. Infrastructure does not have to be domestic. Many outstanding footballers come from countries with relatively weak football systems but reach their full potential after entering the academies and clubs of Europe’s leading leagues. The same is true in academia. Talented researchers may begin their careers in modest universities yet flourish after joining stronger international research environments. What matters is not only where talent originates, but whether there are pathways connecting talent to infrastructures capable of developing and recognizing it.

Infrastructure also performs another, less discussed function. It does not merely produce excellence; it regulates access to excellence. Strong infrastructures cultivate talent, but they also influence who is admitted, trusted, recognized, funded, and given opportunities to grow.

Perhaps this offers another perspective on the long-standing structure–agency debate. Agency helps explain exceptional individuals. Infrastructure helps explain why exceptional individuals emerge repeatedly in some environments and only rarely in others.

Presentability and Representability: Rethinking Individual Diplomatic Representation

I’m pleased to share that my article “Presentability and Representability: Rethinking Individual Diplomatic Representation” has been published online in the Hague Journal of Diplomacy. I’m grateful to colleagues, editors, and reviewers whose thoughtful feedback helped improve the paper. The full article is available here:

https://brill.com/view/journals/hjd/aop/article-10.1163-1871191X-bja10232/article-10.1163-1871191X-bja10232.xml

Spirit of UWED Award

I am deeply grateful to my university, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, and personally to Rector – Senator Sodyq Solikhovich Safoev for the Spirit of UWED Award.

It is a great honor to teach at UWED, one of the leading universities in Central Asia, and to work with such talented students and colleagues.

Courses

Professor Alisher Faizullaev has developed and taught the following university courses over his academic career. They integrate theory and practice, treating negotiation, diplomacy, communication, and leadership as dynamic, human-centred disciplines that can be studied rigorously and applied immediately.

Diplomacy and Negotiation An introduction to the theory and practice of diplomatic negotiation, examining how states and non-state actors negotiate across cultural, political, and institutional boundaries.

International Negotiation An advanced course exploring the dynamics of multilateral and bilateral negotiations in international settings, with attention to bargaining culture, strategic interaction, and conflict resolution.

Effective Negotiation and Persuasion A practice-oriented course developing participants’ skills in preparation, strategy, communication, and closing — grounded in both academic research and real-world diplomatic experience.

Interactive Communication An exploration of communication as a strategic and relational practice, covering verbal and non-verbal dimensions, cross-cultural dynamics, and communication under pressure.

Communication and Leadership An examination of how effective leaders communicate — in negotiations, in organisations, and in public — with particular attention to authority, trust, and influence.

Diplomacy in the Modern World A survey of contemporary diplomatic practice, including public diplomacy, digital diplomacy, and the changing role of diplomats in a multipolar world.

Diplomatic Skills A practical course in the professional competencies of diplomacy — protocol, representation, negotiation, reporting, and cross-cultural engagement.

Strategic Thinking and Interaction An advanced course on strategic reasoning, decision-making under uncertainty, and the dynamics of competitive and cooperative interaction.

Trainer

Alisher Faizullaev, D.Sc. in Political Science and Ph.D. in Psychology, is a scholar-practitioner and former ambassador with over 45 years of experience in diplomacy, academic research, and professional training. He works with leaders, diplomats, and senior professionals on negotiation, strategic thinking, leadership, and cross-cultural communication — bringing together the intellectual rigour of a career academic and the practical authority of someone who has negotiated at ambassadorial level.

His training programmes draw on original research, diplomatic experience, business consultancy, leadership coaching, and frameworks developed over decades of working at the intersection of theory and practice. Conducted in an interactive format, they combine role-playing exercises, simulations, discussions, and case analyses — ensuring participants develop not only conceptual understanding but practical, applicable skills. He completed an executive negotiation programme at Harvard University and also accomplished internships at the Department of Organizational Effectiveness of the San Diego City Council and in several American companies in the fields of management, organization and personal development.

Professor Faizullaev has trained and spoken at leading universities and institutions worldwide, including Harvard, Tufts, Georgetown, Seton Hall, McGill, Western Washington, Webster, Cambridge, Oxford, Johns Hopkins, the University of California, Keio University, the California School of Professional Psychology, the Center for Creative Leadership, the OSCE Academy, Chatham House, the Clingendael Institute, Con Edison Co., Context International, the World Affairs Council, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His lectures and masterclasses have been featured at international forums and conferences across Europe, North America, and Asia.

In Uzbekistan, he has delivered training programmes for major corporations and institutions including GM Uzbekistan, Korzinka.uz, UzBAT, Ucell, LUKOIL, Nestlé, Carlsberg, Navoiyuran, Tashkent Metallurgical Plant, UzEngineering, UZCARD, GROSS, USAID, UNDP, the American Council for International Education, and numerous banks — among them the Central Bank, the National Bank, Uzpromstroybank, KDB Bank, Hamkorbank, and Orient Finans Bank — as well as both chambers of the Parliament, the Academy of Public Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, and many other government agencies, universities, and business schools.

A TEDx speaker whose talk has accumulated over 260,000 views, a member of the Program on International Negotiation Training (POINT) and the European Negotiation Association, and the author of ten books on diplomacy, negotiation, and leadership, Professor Faizullaev brings an unusual combination to the training room: the depth of a well-published scholar, the credibility of a former diplomat, and the practical focus of someone who has spent decades helping real organisations, companies and leaders navigate complex challenges.

He is not just teaching negotiation, leadership, and diplomacy. He is living them.

Savlat – The Dignity of Presence

In Uzbek, there is a word of Arabic origin — savlat. It roughly means majestic bearing or dignified appearance, yet no single English word can quite capture it. Savlat lives somewhere between posture and spirit, between how one looks and how one carries one’s inner weight.

Uzbek has many expressions built around it: savlat tuqish — to assume an air of importance, savlat bosish — to impress others by one’s bearing, sersavlat or savlatdor — a person of solid, imposing presence. Each variation shades the meaning differently, from natural authority to deliberate display.

In traditional culture, savlat is considered a virtue. A person who possesses it commands respect; people listen and take them seriously. But Uzbek wisdom also warns against hollow grandeur. An old proverb says: “A dry basket is better than dry dignity.” The play on words (savlat — dignity, savat — basket) makes the point clear: outward majesty means little if it carries nothing inside.

Usually savlat is associated with men — tall, broad-shouldered, with calm and steady voices. A small, thin man with a shrill tone cannot easily be savlatdor. A woman may also possess savlat, but in that case it suggests an exceptional and quietly commanding grace, a noble presence that does not need to speak loudly.

Savlat is more than appearance. It’s a cultural way of saying that dignity should be visible and embodied — that one’s stance, movement, and calmness reveal inner steadiness. It is the belief that true composure has a form, and that when this form is empty, the people will gently laugh: after all, even a basket carries something useful.

#savlat #dignity #authority

The Lemonade Stand

Thirteen years ago. I was in Washington, D.C.

The heat was unbearable. On my way home, I noticed a little girl, maybe five or six, standing near our apartment building. She had set up a proper business on a folding table: plastic cups filled with lemonade, a handmade sign with crooked letters reading “LEMONADE 50¢,” and even a neat stack of napkins.

What struck me most was her face – serious, focused, like that of an adult at an important negotiation. No trace of childish carelessness. She was doing business. Important business.

A woman stood a little apart on a bench with a book in her hands. She pretended to read, but I could see her glancing up again and again, ready to rush over at any moment.

I sat down on the curb under a tree. I wanted to see what would happen.

The first customer was an elderly African-American woman with a rolling shopping bag. She opened her purse, picked out two coins, took a cup, and said something to the girl. The girl’s face lit up, and she exclaimed, “Thank you, ma’am!” – so loudly and solemnly it sounded as if she were announcing a change of government. The woman laughed and walked off, shaking her head.

Then came a young man in a basketball jersey, headphones in his ears. He pulled one out, handed over a dollar. “Keep the change, boss.” The girl hesitated, looked at her mother. The mother nodded. The girl slipped the dollar into her pocket and smiled so brightly that the man laughed and offered her a fist bump. She tapped his fist with her tiny one, shyly but proudly.

Next came a woman in her twenties, arms full of Whole Foods bags. She stopped, wiped her forehead, bought a lemonade, and drank it down in one go. “Best lemonade ever!” she said – and there was something so genuine in her voice that the girl laughed for the first time, with a child’s pure, ringing laughter.

Watching all this, I realized: none of them really needed the lemonade. They all had homes, air conditioning, refrigerators. But they stopped. Because each of them had once stood behind such a table – or seen their child do it – or dreamed their child might someday learn to earn their first dollar honestly, like this. It wasn’t a purchase; it was a passing of a cultural baton, a small act of public support, an investment in the American spirit of enterprise.

After each customer, the girl turned to her mother with the same question in her eyes: Did I do well? And every time, the mother nodded – calmly, confidently, as if to say, You’re doing fine. Keep going.

I walked over and bought a cup. The lemonade was warm and syrupy, probably had been sitting in the sun for too long. But I drank it to the last drop, smiled, waved to the girl, and she gave me a proud nod, like a partner in a serious business.

Climbing the stairs to my apartment, I thought: in that simple scene, there was more character building than in a hundred lectures on personal independence.

Hats Off to Theodore Roosevelt

I knew, of course, that Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most prominent and influential U.S. presidents (1901–1909). He even received the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

But I recently discovered another side of his legacy – he carried out a genuine environmental revolution. Nature conservation was his personal passion, which he turned into state policy.

Roosevelt created five national parks, eighteen national monuments, and one hundred and fifty national forests. In total, about 230 million acres (roughly 93 million hectares) of land were placed under federal protection.

Respect. Hats off.

Many Rivers, One Stream

Sometimes I’m struck by the thought that my life has been too fragmented. I’ve been involved in psychology, diplomacy (I even served as ambassador in six places, as well as deputy and first deputy minister of foreign affairs, and state counselor to the president on international relations), negotiations, and writing – as a scholar, a writer, and a publicist, in three languages.

My books have been published in the Netherlands, the United States, Russia, and Uzbekistan; my academic articles have reached an even wider range of countries; and my short stories have been translated into several languages and published around the world.

I earned my Ph.D. in psychology and my D.Sc. in political science. I was awarded the title of associate professor in human resource management, and later that of professor in the history of international relations and international politics. I’ve been a visiting professor and researcher at several universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. I founded several new university departments, served as Director of the Institute of Management, and was the First Vice-Rector of a leading university in Uzbekistan. I’ve taught, conducted business trainings, and offered consultations. I’ve been active on social media and even created two YouTube channels. Oh, and I almost forgot – at one point, I founded two private enterprises: an institute and a training company.

As a researcher, I’ve moved across disciplines – from personality and motivation to organizational and political psychology, from negotiation and international negotiation to international relations, Central Asian politics, and diplomatic studies. The last article I submitted to an academic journal was devoted to artificial intelligence.

My teaching has also covered a broad spectrum: from leadership and management to international negotiation and public diplomacy. My current passion is strategy – strategic thinking and interaction. I’ve developed an original course on this subject and have already begun teaching it.

My sporting life has been just as diverse: I am a Master of Sports in fencing (former member of Uzbekistan’s junior national team), held sports rankings in boxing and volleyball, became tennis champion among ambassadors accredited in London, and have practiced taiji and tuishou intensively for many years.

Searching, searching, searching… Of course, this isn’t only about my personality – it’s also shaped by the nature of our rapidly changing era.

In short, there have been many directions – and even more spheres of interest. Yet in each of these areas, I’ve gone deep enough to realize that true mastery lies not in narrow specialization alone, but in the ability to see connections where others may not. Still, I’ve often caught myself wondering: am I spreading myself too thin? At times, it felt that way.

Many years ago, two Altai shamans came to Tashkent. We spoke for a long time, and I told them about this feeling of being scattered. One of them looked at me and said:


– You know, Alisher, your life will be like many small rivers that flow on their own. But a moment will come when they will merge and form a wide, powerful stream.

There’s another episode I sometimes recall. It was in California, in the early nineties. I was talking about the same feeling with a well-known psychologist. He suggested I take a stick and draw dots on the ground — symbols of my diverse and multidirectional interests.

I drew them. Then he said:
– Now try to connect them with one line.

I connected all the scattered dots – and it formed a circle, though a somewhat uneven one. The psychologist smiled:


– You see? There’s no scatteredness at all. Everything is connected. You have a holistic life.