My perception of diplomacy has changed a lot since the beginning of the course. At the outset I didn’t know much about the topic. I looked at diplomacy merely as the interstate negotiations and the tool for the peaceful conduct of international relations.
Therefore, the module developed significantly my knowledge. It showed the evolution of diplomatic practice- a complex issue as it is difficult to even indicate with certainty when exactly diplomacy has started. It presented different phases in diplomacy- the very beginnings of the modern diplomacy back in Renaissance Italy where institution of permanent embassies emerged; its further development until the twentieth century, when diplomacy massively expanded, many new state and non-state actors have ‘joined in’ increasing numbers and types of diplomatic links. Diplomacy has changed its nature- it is no more just about bilateral negotiations between two states, but now, particularly in the twentieth century, the role of multilateral or conference diplomacy has been constantly growing. Additionally, the twentieth century have witnessed many more developments and innovations in diplomacy. The growing importance of various NGOs in diplomacy can be deemed as a positive development, on the other hand, however, there has been constant and gradual decrease in importance carried by classic institution of diplomacy, and the role of ambassador has been also undermined, as currently diplomacy is often conducted by politicians.
Friday, 30 April 2010
My Opinion on Today's Diplomacy
Diplomacy plays very significant role in the contemporary world of politics. It can be force for good by creating channel of communication among conflicting sides as well as helping to establish, innovate and foster global peace and security. I always believed that diplomacy is function sole for foreign office and its representative. However, since I started this module, 'the New Diplomacy', I discover that it goes fur deeper beyond the surface. Diplomacy involves by non state actors such as NGOs and it also has important role for the environment, trade and crisis.
The new diplomacy has given me the opportunity to explore this subject further. I have learned that diplomacy facilitates channel of communication among heads of states and non state politics in contemporary world of politics. Without communication, there would not be any international system as there will not be any interaction among states and non state actors. I have also learned the transformation of diplomacy from old to new, bilateral to multilateral and from secrecy to more open and honest.
The negotiation of agreements is plays crual role for enhancing relationships and achieving mutual benefits, thus diplomacy facilitates states actor to interact with minimum frication and tension.
In my opinion, the most interesting thing that I have learned in this module is the growing significant role of NGOs in diplomatic circle which I have underestimated in the past. At the sometime, there has been a decree in important of one traditional diplomacy core aspects; role of ambassador has been undermined.
The new diplomacy has given me the opportunity to explore this subject further. I have learned that diplomacy facilitates channel of communication among heads of states and non state politics in contemporary world of politics. Without communication, there would not be any international system as there will not be any interaction among states and non state actors. I have also learned the transformation of diplomacy from old to new, bilateral to multilateral and from secrecy to more open and honest.
The negotiation of agreements is plays crual role for enhancing relationships and achieving mutual benefits, thus diplomacy facilitates states actor to interact with minimum frication and tension.
In my opinion, the most interesting thing that I have learned in this module is the growing significant role of NGOs in diplomatic circle which I have underestimated in the past. At the sometime, there has been a decree in important of one traditional diplomacy core aspects; role of ambassador has been undermined.
New Diplomacy module has enlightened my knowledge and understanding of diplomacy today
Diplomacy plays an extremely important role in world politics. An effective diplomacy can help to establish and maintain international peace and security. My opinion about this crucial role of diplomacy in the world politics has not changed the since of New Diplomacy module. However my opinion, about what diplomacy is, has been changed since the start of this module.
I used to think that when the heads of states interact with one another, these interactions are regarded as diplomatic activities. But New Diplomacy module has influenced my thinking. It can be argued that politicians may not be diplomats. Distinctions can be drawn between politicians and diplomats. Unlike old diplomacy, new diplomacy tends to be low politics rather than high politics.
The module has greatly enhanced my knowledge of this subject. I have learned about the history of diplomacy, its different forms and various ongoing debates. One of the interesting things I learned about diplomacy is its transformation or transition from old to new.
Perhaps most unexpected discovery about diplomacy is the role of some NGO’s in diplomatic activities. Diplomacy in my opinion was beyond the reach of NGO’s. But I was surprised to learn that in multilateral diplomacy, sometimes NGO’s have role too. These knowledge and understanding of diplomacy has made me more aware of NGO’s important role in diplomacy today.
I used to think that when the heads of states interact with one another, these interactions are regarded as diplomatic activities. But New Diplomacy module has influenced my thinking. It can be argued that politicians may not be diplomats. Distinctions can be drawn between politicians and diplomats. Unlike old diplomacy, new diplomacy tends to be low politics rather than high politics.
The module has greatly enhanced my knowledge of this subject. I have learned about the history of diplomacy, its different forms and various ongoing debates. One of the interesting things I learned about diplomacy is its transformation or transition from old to new.
Perhaps most unexpected discovery about diplomacy is the role of some NGO’s in diplomatic activities. Diplomacy in my opinion was beyond the reach of NGO’s. But I was surprised to learn that in multilateral diplomacy, sometimes NGO’s have role too. These knowledge and understanding of diplomacy has made me more aware of NGO’s important role in diplomacy today.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Efficiency of the new diplomacy:
The new diplomacy has brought about cooperation between NGOs and multilateral cooperation due to the impact of globalisation which has made trade, investment, travel and information technology much closer to each other. Another important aspect of the new diplomacy is that international law has come into force compared to the 19th and 20th century whereby it was limited to issues such as piracy, wartime embargoes, rights of diplomats which was all about states thus through multilateralism, states have come into agreement through the UN and the EU whereby international law has been put into place and of which states have to abide by it especially when it comes to human rights (Katz, E. Feb.10, 2006).
With the advance of new technology, new diplomacy has made it easy for information to bypass resident ambassadors in a way that coverage such as the media can transfer messages. Example CNN coverage of the Gulf war (Berridge, G.R. 2005:119-120). New diplomacy has also shaped the importance of smaller poor states in a way that they do lack technology due to financial hardships and thus by states coming together through conferences, these countries can easily express their cases like in the UN and also get help in specific fields where they need expertise, for instance when it comes to trade tariffs (Monteiro, A. 29th March 1995).
Last point to make is that it has made travel and work for foreign secretaries much easier in that they can move from one place to another negotiating directly with foreign missions in which they are respected just like the resident ambassador (Taylor, pp. 97-98, 106, 181) and also a leader can send his message directly to a foreign land with the use of modern technology just like Barrack Obama did during his address to the Iranian people.
Berridge, G.R. (2005), Diplomacy: theory and Practice, 3rd edition, New York: Palgrave Houndmills, Basingstoke.
Katz, E. (2006), Business-NGO Alliance marks “New Diplomacy,” Pell says. Retrieved on 26/04/2010. From: http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2006-spr/pell.htm
Monteiro, A. (1995), multilateral diplomacy: diplomacy in transition. Retrieved: 05/04/2010. From: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/12/MULTILATERAL%20DIPOMACY%20-%2029-Mar-95
With the advance of new technology, new diplomacy has made it easy for information to bypass resident ambassadors in a way that coverage such as the media can transfer messages. Example CNN coverage of the Gulf war (Berridge, G.R. 2005:119-120). New diplomacy has also shaped the importance of smaller poor states in a way that they do lack technology due to financial hardships and thus by states coming together through conferences, these countries can easily express their cases like in the UN and also get help in specific fields where they need expertise, for instance when it comes to trade tariffs (Monteiro, A. 29th March 1995).
Last point to make is that it has made travel and work for foreign secretaries much easier in that they can move from one place to another negotiating directly with foreign missions in which they are respected just like the resident ambassador (Taylor, pp. 97-98, 106, 181) and also a leader can send his message directly to a foreign land with the use of modern technology just like Barrack Obama did during his address to the Iranian people.
Berridge, G.R. (2005), Diplomacy: theory and Practice, 3rd edition, New York: Palgrave Houndmills, Basingstoke.
Katz, E. (2006), Business-NGO Alliance marks “New Diplomacy,” Pell says. Retrieved on 26/04/2010. From: http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2006-spr/pell.htm
Monteiro, A. (1995), multilateral diplomacy: diplomacy in transition. Retrieved: 05/04/2010. From: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/12/MULTILATERAL%20DIPOMACY%20-%2029-Mar-95
Importance of public diplomacy in the contemporary world:
In the present contemporary world with the spread of democracy has created a new environment in the international system to win hearts and minds of people by governments. This is what public diplomacy does by trying to influence foreign nationals and the public with values, policies and actions of their governments to be supported. Public diplomacy can be defined as the efforts of one nation to influence public or elites of the next nation for the purpose of using foreign policy to its target. Governments always attempt to communicate with foreign public to export their ideas, its institutions and culture, as well as national goals and current policies.
Public diplomacy looks at promoting its culture for long term aims while short-term when it comes to current foreign policies and can also be looked at as propaganda for a nation state by improving its image abroad which will be favourable to the state. The importance of foreign public diplomacy is that it is influenced by soft power rather than use of force or hard power and has brought dependency of citizens on their governments and the local press for information on foreign events and increased potential targets for direct communication of diplomatic messages.
Another important point is that distribution of information around the globe is not restricted due to new technology that can transmit messages around the world in seconds like with fighting terrorism in an age of global real-time television and the internet. Public diplomacy also serves both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in the sense that they are intended for national interest like in the quest of investment, promotion of trade, and international tourism which is also referred to as branding and also creates cooperation and interaction. Example can be seen in the Canadian and Norwegian experience with the Ottawa process on landmines which shows how collaboration between the domestic and international policy arenas and the public and private sphere (Smith, P.H. Public diplomacy).
Smith, P.H. Public diplomacy, by Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy, London. Retrieved on 26/04/2010. From: http://www.diplomact.edu/books/mdiplomacy-book/smith/p.h.%20smith.htm
Public diplomacy looks at promoting its culture for long term aims while short-term when it comes to current foreign policies and can also be looked at as propaganda for a nation state by improving its image abroad which will be favourable to the state. The importance of foreign public diplomacy is that it is influenced by soft power rather than use of force or hard power and has brought dependency of citizens on their governments and the local press for information on foreign events and increased potential targets for direct communication of diplomatic messages.
Another important point is that distribution of information around the globe is not restricted due to new technology that can transmit messages around the world in seconds like with fighting terrorism in an age of global real-time television and the internet. Public diplomacy also serves both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in the sense that they are intended for national interest like in the quest of investment, promotion of trade, and international tourism which is also referred to as branding and also creates cooperation and interaction. Example can be seen in the Canadian and Norwegian experience with the Ottawa process on landmines which shows how collaboration between the domestic and international policy arenas and the public and private sphere (Smith, P.H. Public diplomacy).
Smith, P.H. Public diplomacy, by Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy, London. Retrieved on 26/04/2010. From: http://www.diplomact.edu/books/mdiplomacy-book/smith/p.h.%20smith.htm
Relevance of bilateral diplomacy in contemporary world:
Bilateral diplomacy is still relevant in the contemporary world in that usually when negotiations take place, it is much easier on a face to face basis whereby leaders do come together (bilaterally) and discuss issues of importance. Because of this, we find out that dialogue can be met because of physical contact and sign language which builds more trust amongst people. In bilateral diplomacy, missions are usually based abroad thus an ambassador or resident mission is well informed to the local environment such as language and culture of which he/she can easily integrate into that society and build trust among the locals (Berridge, G.R. 2005:121-122).
Another importance of bilateral diplomacy is that it does have first hand information. This is an important factor in that by having a resident mission, mutual relationship is built and at the same time the geopolitical factor arises in that the ambassador will be well informed and have good knowledge about the culture, the people and the day to day activities of that country compared to a foreign secretary who is so mobile and has loads of assignments at his disposal with limited time to get to know about a particular place or area.
Berridge, G.R. (2005), Diplomacy: theory and Practice, 3rd edition, New York: Palgrave Houndmills, Basingstoke.
Another importance of bilateral diplomacy is that it does have first hand information. This is an important factor in that by having a resident mission, mutual relationship is built and at the same time the geopolitical factor arises in that the ambassador will be well informed and have good knowledge about the culture, the people and the day to day activities of that country compared to a foreign secretary who is so mobile and has loads of assignments at his disposal with limited time to get to know about a particular place or area.
Berridge, G.R. (2005), Diplomacy: theory and Practice, 3rd edition, New York: Palgrave Houndmills, Basingstoke.
What I've Discovered About Diplomacy
The art of representation, communication and negotiation for states to work together and come away feeling as though they have gained in the nations interest. My understanding of diplomacy has changed as I've learnt a lot about the conduct and history of diplomacy over the last few months.
I was unaware of all the complexities involved in diplomacy when I first started. Since then I've learnt that there are many types of diplomatic practice that takes place, bilateral, multilateral and particularly interesting the use of public diplomacy. Historians differ on the origins of diplomacy, ranging from the Bronze Age to Renaissance Italy, and the French revolution was a period of big transition in diplomacy which much of modern day diplomacy is associated with. Diplomacy and its practices evolved over this period from nuncios to procurators with their envoys, to missions and the modern day embassy.
Diplomacy is the crucial tool for state representation, communication and negotiation. To begin with I didn't realise the vast amounts of issues covered by diplomats covering the many realms of world politics from national security to trade and development, and the environment. The nature of diplomacy is ever developing as national agendas evolve to incorporate new global issues such as terrorism and climate change. The 20th Century saw the largest transition from the 'old' diplomacy to the 'new' diplomacy where open multilateral negotiations increased dramatically and new multistate agendas rose. However, many bilateral diplomatic negotiations and communications still take place behind closed doors, this was particularly the case during the Cold War and grounds of security.
Diplomats are state representatives acting on behalf of governments to implement national strategies overseas in order to build national security and achieve national goals. Diplomacy is vital for pre-emptive, preventive and preserving (allies) measures.
Since the end of the Cold War, non-state actors have become increasingly involved in diplomatic affairs, especially in areas such as the environment and human rights, in which they specialise, although they are yet to formally sign a treaty without a state. Scholars such as Cohen and Langhorne see this as just another transition in the practice of diplomacy and believe we are reaching a period where non-state actors should be formally recognised as diplomats and granted the same statuses and immunity privileges as professional state diplomats. Whilst others like Berridge argue that the only recognised diplomats should be state diplomats and that no-one else should be accepted as a diplomat.
I have learnt how the rise in information communications technologies and globalisation has led for the need for states to act more transparently with the foreign public using public diplomacy to gain support from foreign states. With increasing media coverage and global awareness in the shrinking 21st century the use of soft power diplomacy tactics is vital to the success of governments in the global arena and this should become more common in the future if states do not wish to isolate themselves.
I was unaware of all the complexities involved in diplomacy when I first started. Since then I've learnt that there are many types of diplomatic practice that takes place, bilateral, multilateral and particularly interesting the use of public diplomacy. Historians differ on the origins of diplomacy, ranging from the Bronze Age to Renaissance Italy, and the French revolution was a period of big transition in diplomacy which much of modern day diplomacy is associated with. Diplomacy and its practices evolved over this period from nuncios to procurators with their envoys, to missions and the modern day embassy.
Diplomacy is the crucial tool for state representation, communication and negotiation. To begin with I didn't realise the vast amounts of issues covered by diplomats covering the many realms of world politics from national security to trade and development, and the environment. The nature of diplomacy is ever developing as national agendas evolve to incorporate new global issues such as terrorism and climate change. The 20th Century saw the largest transition from the 'old' diplomacy to the 'new' diplomacy where open multilateral negotiations increased dramatically and new multistate agendas rose. However, many bilateral diplomatic negotiations and communications still take place behind closed doors, this was particularly the case during the Cold War and grounds of security.
Diplomats are state representatives acting on behalf of governments to implement national strategies overseas in order to build national security and achieve national goals. Diplomacy is vital for pre-emptive, preventive and preserving (allies) measures.
Since the end of the Cold War, non-state actors have become increasingly involved in diplomatic affairs, especially in areas such as the environment and human rights, in which they specialise, although they are yet to formally sign a treaty without a state. Scholars such as Cohen and Langhorne see this as just another transition in the practice of diplomacy and believe we are reaching a period where non-state actors should be formally recognised as diplomats and granted the same statuses and immunity privileges as professional state diplomats. Whilst others like Berridge argue that the only recognised diplomats should be state diplomats and that no-one else should be accepted as a diplomat.
I have learnt how the rise in information communications technologies and globalisation has led for the need for states to act more transparently with the foreign public using public diplomacy to gain support from foreign states. With increasing media coverage and global awareness in the shrinking 21st century the use of soft power diplomacy tactics is vital to the success of governments in the global arena and this should become more common in the future if states do not wish to isolate themselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
