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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

DIPLOMACY

Diplomacy is the part and parcel of international relations.It is an important tool of foreign policy.Diplomacy is the job of trained officials such as envoys ,ambassadors,High commissioners. Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or nations. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, culture, economics, trade, and war. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.

The word stems from the Greek word diploma, which literally means two fold as in folded in two. In ancient Greece, a diploma was a certificate certifying completion of a course of study, typically folded in two. In the days of the Roman Empire, the word diploma was used to describe official travel documents, such as passports and passes for imperial roads, that were stamped on double metal plates. Later, the meaning was extended to cover other official documents such as treaties with foreign tribes. In the 1700s the French called their body of officials attached to foreign legations the corps "diplomatique". The word diplomacy was first introduced into the English language by Edmund Burke in 1796, based on the French word diplomatie.

The board game:

Diplomacy is a board game, war game, and strategy game set in Europe in the era before the beginning of World War I. Diplomacy was the first commercially published game to be played by mail; only chess, which is in the public domain, saw significant postal play earlier. Diplomacy was also the first commercially published game to generate an active hobby with amateur fanzines.

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or nations. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, culture, economics, trade, and war. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.

DEFINITIONS

Earnest Satow –application of intelligence and tact to the conduct of official relations b/w govts.

The Oxford Dictionary-The management of intl.relations by negotiation.

Frankel-the business of communicating b/w govts.

Definitions of diplomacy on the Web:

Nature of diplomacy

1.tool to implement FP

2.channel of communication b/w govts.

3.art of forwarding nations interest.

4.method of managing and adjusting inter state relations

HISTORY

Originated in ancient Greek city state.Romans also contributed to the art of diplomacy.As a profession it originated in modern Italy.First known diplomatic mission established at Genoa in 1455 by Duke of Milan.In later centuries Romans established permanent embassies in London,Paris and at the court of Holy Roman empire.By 18th century Industrial,American andFrench revolutions also developed a new set of diplomatic practices.Originally it was a profession of aristocrats.Later diplomacy democratized.

CONGRESS OF VIENNA

It made four ranks of diplomacy.

1.Ambassadors

2.papal reps.

3.Envoy extra ordinary and ministers plenipotentiary

4.Ministers resident and charge d’ affairs

FUNDAMENTALLY TWO TYPES OF DIPLOMACY

Traditional and New diplomacy

Traditional

It originated by 16th century and continued up to 1919.

Features

1.Mainly European

Europe was the centre of old diplomatic activities.it was mostly confined to Europe and non European countries were outside its purview.

2.Big power affair

It was dominated by the big powers of Europe.Small states had no role.

3.Aristocratic.

Diplomats were selected and appointed from nobles and aristocrats.They were not career diplomats,not recruited on the basis of merit.diplomacy was an aristocratic affair.

4.Secrecy.

It was closed.,confidential,pacts and agreements were entered on secret basis

5.Flexible

Diplomats enjoyed great freedom owing to less control and communication b/w monarchs and diplomats .The pressure of public opinion that makes flexibility impossible was not existed.

6.lack of morality

For serving national interest ,diplomats often resorted to immoral practices such as bribing and murder.

NEW DIPLOMACY

The era of new diplomacy ushered in the 20th century after the First world war when intl.situations changed and democratic govt. replaced monarchies.

Features.

1.International.

-ND is an intl. affair.it was not not confined to Europe or any particular continent.

2.open.

-ND is identical with open diplomacy.It insists on open covenants of peace openly arrived at and not on private intl. understanding of any kind.it proceed always frankly and in the public view.

3.Democratic.

-ND is subjected to democratic control.The broad framework of policy are democratically determined and subjected to democratic scrutiny and control.

DISTINCTION B/W OLD DIPLOMACY AND NEW DIPLOMACY

1.OD was confined to Europe ,ND is all pervasive ,world wide and truly inti. in nature.

2.OD was dominated by big powers of Europe but ND is not.

3.OD was aristocratic while ND is democratic.The diplomats in the past were drawn from the aristocratic class today they are recruited from the public

4.OD was secret but the ND is somewhat transparent in nature.

5.ND is more frequently conducted through summits than the OD

FUNCTIONS OF DIPLOMACY

The goal of diplomacy on an international level is to safeguard the national interests, foster trade and promote the culture and economy between nations. The word comes from the Greek word "diploma" which literally means "folded in two." In old Greece, a diploma was a certificate for completion of a course, quite akin to the way it is used in present times too. The meaning of the word was extended to imply official travel papers like passports and passes for regal lanes in the Roman Empire. The meaning of diploma soon extended from travel documents to other official papers like treaties with foreign kingdoms. In the 1700s, the French used the word "diplomatique" for a body of officials who were assigned for negotiations with neighboring countries. It was Sir Edmund Burke who introduced the word "diplomacy" (from the French word "diplomatique") in the English language in the year 1796.

Various processes and procedures have evolved over time for handling diplomatic issues and disputes.

Arbitration and mediations

Nations sometimes resort to international arbitration when faced with a specific question or point of contention in need of resolution. For most of history, there were no official or formal procedures for such proceedings. They were generally accepted to abide by general principles and protocols related to international law and justice.

Sometimes these took the form of formal arbitrations and mediations. In such cases a commission of diplomats might be convened to hear all sides of an issue, and to come some sort of ruling based on international law.

In the modern era, much of this work is often carried out by the International Court of Justice at the Hague, or other formal commissions, agencies and tribunals, working under the United Nations. Below are some examples.

Hay-Herbert Treaty Enacted after the United States and Britain submitted a dispute to international mediation about the US-Canadian border.

Conferences

Other times, resolutions were sought through the convening of international conferences. In such cases, there are fewer ground rules, and fewer formal applications of international law. However, participants are expected to guide themselves through principles of international fairness, logic, and protocol.

Some examples of these formal conferences are:

Congress of Vienna (1815) – After Napoleon was defeated, there were many diplomatic questions waiting to be resolved. This included the shape of the map of Europe, the disposition of political and nationalist claims of various ethnic groups and nationalities wishing to have some political autonomy, and the resolution of various claims by various European powers.

The Congress of Berlin (June 13 – July 13, 1878) was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize conditions in the Balkans.

Negotiations

Sometimes nations convene official negotiation processes to settle an issue or dispute between several nations which are parties to a dispute. These are similar to the conferences mentioned above, as there are technically no established rules or procedures. However, there are general principles and precedents which help define a course for such proceedings.

Some examples are

Camp David accord Convened in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter of the United States, at Camp David to reach an agreement between Prime Minister Mechaem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. After weeks of negotiation, agreement was reached and the accords were signed, later leading directly to the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979.

Treaty of Portsmouth Enacted after President Theodore Roosevelt brought together the delegates from Russia and Japan, to settle the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt's personal intervention settled the conflict, and caused him to win the Nobel peace prize.

What are the principal roles of a diplomat? First, he is an agent of his government ordered to carry out instructions from authorized superiors. In the American case, there is often a vigorous internal debate throughout the foreign affairs agencies of the government on a given policy, as well as on the tactics of its proposed execution, a dialogue in which both Department of State and embassies continuously engage.

However, once a decision is made, the action is carried out. Whatever an individual diplomat.s private feelings on a given issue may be, he is duty-bound to carry out the instructions. If his conscience does not so allow, he may request a transfer to another assignment or region or offer to resign. In effect, the diplomat in this role functions as a lawyer with the U.S. Government as his client. Just as a lawyer.s ethical responsibility is to make the most vigorous possible advocacy for his client regardless of his personal opinions of the client.s innocence, so is a diplomat in public or in conversation with foreign interlocutors expected to make the best possible presentation on behalf of his government. The diplomat is also an information-gatherer and analyst. Although not expected to compete in realtime with the media organizations such as CNN or the New York Times on basic facts, due to his presumed experience and familiarity with a country, its culture, institutions, and key personalities, the diplomat should be able to bring added value by analyzing and putting in context what to harried Washington senior leaders can seem like isolated, meaningless events. So, for the diplomat to be well-informed, he ideally should speak, read, and understand the local language, extract from the mass media key nuggets of important information, develop a string of well-informed contacts covering a wide spectrum, and attend major events such as political party congresses. As a message-drafter, the diplomatic drafter needs to be succinct, clear, pungent enough to both hold busy readers. attention and to answer the .so-what.question. The analysis needs to be substantiated by fact and interpretation, each clearly labeled as such. While never writing with the intent to provoke, when necessary, the drafter may have to call attention respectfully but clearly to actual or potential situations that may be unpleasant or resented by policymakers. At the same time, national leaders must be careful not to shoot the messenger even if they disagree with the analysis or recommendations. Sometimes, this requires courage from the drafter and restraint from the recipient. It is always the policymakers. prerogative to choose other courses. But retaliation against unwanted advice or analysis can lead to self-censorship and ultimate harm to the national interest through failure to realistically assess events.

A diplomat is also a negotiator. Depending on the issue, a diplomat may have more or less freedom to adjust from basic instructions, tactics, and goals. In order for a negotiation to succeed, which may not always be desirable or the preferred outcome, the astute diplomat will have a good general understanding of his counterpart.s baseline requirement, some sense of the national cultural manner of negotiating, and a willingness to bargain.but not to bargain away essential or vital objectives. This propensity for negotiation, also an inherent part of a lawyer.s toolkit, is what sometimes infuriates ideological or idealistic individuals since they believe it immoral to negotiate with either blatantly evil states or leaders or they believe it puts the United States in a position of appearing to make compromises on what can be construed as vital interests. Unless there is no longer a need to negotiate at all because of acknowledged overwhelming power of one country, or because diplomacy has yielded to open war, such compromises are an inherent property of having to deal with a Hobbesian world of sovereign states. Even criminal prosecutors make

plea-bargains with criminals to achieve a balance of justice, resource use, and likelihood of conviction on the most serious charges.

In a slightly different key, a diplomat facilitates and maintains dialogue with his counterparts, hopefully with a view to arriving at complementary assessments of threats, benefits, and actions to take to maximize their respective national interests. If the dialogue goes far enough, it can lead to commitments usually expressed in the form of treaties or agreements. They can range from reciprocal reduction of tariffs to

willingness to go to war on behalf of another country.

Diplomats also act as spokesman and sounding board for the country. A good diplomat will be effective in public and private gatherings at furthering his country.s interests and refuting criticism of it by couching his advocacy in a manner best suited to the culture where he is stationed. Because of the ubiquity of media outlets, a good diplomat learns how to access the host country media, key decisionmakers, and most

relevant institutions (parliament, military, chambers of commerce, labor union federations, etc.), and gets his point across over the blare of .white noise.emanating in the modern media.

At the more senior level, diplomats serve as counselors to national leaders, few of whom are regional or global experts. While diplomats rarely have the final say in the most solemn decision a nation can make. the decision to go to war.they can serve to make clear the potential costs as well as benefits of such acts and the likely prospects of coalitions in favor (or opposed) to their country. While certainly not pacifists, diplomats are temperamentally and professionally inclined to seek non-violent solutions partly because that is what they do, and partly because they frequently can foresee second and third order consequences that can lead to a worse situation than the status quo ante bellum. It is at this juncture that politicians and the media sometimes confuse reporting and analysis that may be at odd with national leadership goals with disloyalty. It is not a desire for the status quo, let alone a preference for dealing with dictators, that may drive diplomats as some have charged. Rather it is a realization that in the absence of comprehensive universallyacknowledged supremacy, negotiation with other regimes, no matter how unpalatable, may be necessary. The obvious classic quote is that of Winston Churchill who, despite being before and after World War II an adamant anti-Communist, said on Hitler.s attack on the Soviet Union in 1941,.If Hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons

Diplomatic recognition

Diplomatic recognition is an important factor in determining whether a nation is an independent state. Receiving recognition is often difficult, even for countries which are fully sovereign. For many decades after its becoming independent, even many of the closest allies of the Dutch Republic refused to grant it full recognition. Today there are a number of independent entities without widespread diplomatic recognition, most notably the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. Since the 1970s, most nations have stopped officially recognizing the ROC's existence on Taiwan, at the insistence of the People's Republic of China. Currently, the United States and other nations maintain informal relations through de facto embassies, with names such as the American Institute in Taiwan. Similarly, Taiwan's de facto embassies abroad are known by names such as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. This was not always the case, with the US maintaining official diplomatic ties with the ROC, recognizing it as the sole and legitimate government of all of China until 1979, when these relations were broken off as a condition for establishing official relations with Communist China.

The Palestinian National Authority has its own diplomatic service, however Palestinian representatives in most Western countries are not accorded diplomatic immunity, and their missions are referred to as Delegations General.

Other unrecognized regions which claim independence include Kosovo, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Somaliland, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Lacking the economic and political importance of Taiwan, these nations tend to be much more diplomatically isolated.

Though used as a factor in judging sovereignty, Article 3 of the Montevideo Convention states, "The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by other states."

Types of Diplomacy

Diplomacy is basically a term that is widely important for International relations between various nations. Diplomacy is the art of negotiations between various countries. In international relations it forms the basis for peace making, economics, culture, trade wars etc.



Following are the types of Diplomacy:

- Informal Diplomacy
- Para diplomacy
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Economic Diplomacy

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- Gunboat Diplomacy
- Ping Pong Diplomacy
- Preventive Diplomacy
- Public Diplomacy
- Shuttle Diplomacy
- Transformational Diplomacy

What Is Shuttle Diplomacy?

International negotiations conducted by a mediator who frequently flies back and forth between the negotiating parties. Sort of like a messenger boy.

What Is Sports Diplomacy?

Sports Diplomacy is when sports is used as a political tool to enhance diplomatic relations between two entities.

What Is Traditional Diplomacy?

Traditional diplomacy basically relates with territory. It is based on the assumption that communities are organized in the sovereign nation-states and the borders and limits are clearly defined. It is known as traditional diplomacy because it is more...

Bilateral Diplomacy: between two nations or interests. Mutual benefit or relations are the only ones which are considered important. It is in some measure the basis for other more complex relationships.

Multilateral Diplomacy: This was a more resent development with its origins dating near or after the end of the First World War. Its various types are;

War diplomacy- A form of diplomacy adopted when there is no alternative to war.

Preventive diplomacy- This is an extremely delicate process as it requires the most trust and confidence between antagonists. It also requires extreme patience and an independence from coercion.

Developmental diplomacy- This is more an economic form of diplomacy which seeks a promotion of economic interests.

Multi track diplomacy- A more pragmatic and modern approach which encompasses all the other diplomacy types and focuses on the issue at hand from the rival's point of you.
Public Diplomacy- One which encompasses government public relations.

Informal diplomacy

(sometimes called Track II diplomacy) has been used for centuries to communicate between powers. Most diplomats work to recruit figures in other nations who might be able to give informal access to a country's leadership. In some situations, such as between the United States and the People's Republic of China a large amount of diplomacy is done through semi-formal channels using interlocutors such as academic members of thinktanks. This occurs in situations where governments wish to express intentions or to suggest methods of resolving a diplomatic situation, but do not wish to express a formal position.

Track II diplomacy

is a specific kind of informal diplomacy, in which non-officials (academic scholars, retired civil and military officials, public figures, social activists) engage in dialogue, with the aim of conflict resolution, or confidence-building. Sometimes governments may fund such Track II exchanges. Sometimes the exchanges may have no connection at all with governments, or may even act in defiance of governments; such exchanges are called Track III.

On some occasion a former holder of an official position continues to carry out an informal diplomatic activity after retirement. In some cases, governments welcome such activity, for example as a means of establishing an initial contact with a hostile state of group without being formally committed. In other cases, however, such informal diplomats seek to promote a political agenda different from that of the government currently in power. Such informal diplomacy is practiced by former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and (to a lesser extent) Bill Clinton and by the former Israeli diplomat and minister Yossi Beilin (see Geneva Initiative).

Paradiplomacy

Paradiplomacy refers to the international relations conducted by subnational, regional, local or non-central governments. The most ordinary case of paradiplomatic relation refer to co-operation between bordering political entities. However, interest of federal states, provinces, regions etc., may extend over to different regions or to issues gathering local governments in multilateral fora worldwide. Some non-central governments may be allowed to negotiate and enter into agreement with foreign central states.

Cultural diplomacy

Cultural diplomacy is a part of diplomacy. It alludes to a new way of making diplomacy by involving new non governmental and non professional actors in the making of diplomacy. In the frame of globalization, culture plays a major role in the definition of identity and in the relations between people. Joseph Nye points out the importance of having a soft power besides a hard power. When classical diplomacy fails, a better knowledge can help bridging the gap between different cultures.

Cultural diplomacy becomes a subject of academic studies based on historical essays on the United States, Europe, and the Cold War.

Small state diplomacy

Small state diplomacy is receiving increasing attention in diplomatic studies and international relations. Small states are particularly affected by developments which are determined beyond their borders such as climate change, water security and shifts in the global economy. Diplomacy is the main vehicle by which small states are able to ensure that their goals are addressed in the global arena. These factors mean that small states have strong incentives to support international cooperation. But with limited resources at their disposal, conducting effective diplomacy poses unique challenges for small states.

Diplomatic immunity

The sanctity of diplomats has long been observed. This sanctity has come to be known as diplomatic immunity. While there have been a number of cases where diplomats have been killed, this is normally viewed as a great breach of honour. Genghis Khan and the Mongols were well known for strongly insisting on the rights of diplomats, and they would often wreak horrific vengeance against any state that violated these rights.

Diplomatic rights were established in the mid-17th century in Europe and have spread throughout the world. These rights were formalized by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which protects diplomats from being persecuted or prosecuted while on a diplomatic mission. If a diplomat does commit a serious crime while in a host country he may be declared as persona non grata (unwanted person). Such diplomats are then often tried for the crime in their homeland.

Diplomatic communications are also viewed as sacrosanct, and diplomats have long been allowed to carry documents across borders without being searched. The mechanism for this is the so-called "diplomatic bag" (or, in some countries, the "diplomatic pouch"). While radio and digital communication have become more standard for embassies, diplomatic pouches are still quite common and some countries, including the United States, declare entire shipping containers as diplomatic pouches to bring sensitive material (often building supplies) into a country.

In times of hostility, diplomats are often withdrawn for reasons of personal safety, as well as in some cases when the host country is friendly but there is a perceived threat from internal dissidents. Ambassadors and other diplomats are sometimes recalled temporarily by their home countries as a way to express displeasure with the host country. In both cases, lower-level employees still remain to actually do the business of diplomacy.

Lecture notes prepared by biju p r,assistant professor in political science,govt brennen college,thalassery,kerala ,india

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