1.The Challenges of 21St-Century Diplomacy

Introduction Oxford Handbooks Online Introduction: The Challenges of 21st-Century Diplomacy Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy Edited by Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur Print Publication Date: Mar 2013 Subject: Political Science, International Relations, Political Institutions Online Publication Date: Aug DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588862.013.0001 2013 Abstract and Keywords This introductory article first sets out the book’s main purpose, which is to display the importance of diplomacy along with its attendant capacity for adaptation. It then discusses the nature and meaning of diplomacy, its emerging patterns of practice, and its relevance for not only policy-makers but also a wider cast of actors and set of social interaction. The subject matter of diplomacy has expanded, from the high politics of war and peace to health, environment, development, science and technology, education, law, and the arts. Diplomats are engaged in an expanding range of functions, from negotiation, communication, consular, representation, and reporting to observation, merchandise trade and services promotion, cultural exchange, and public relations. At the same time, with more work has come a greater amount of ‘bureaucratization’, where routine, precedent, and standard operating procedures dominate the daily administrative tasks. Keywords: diplomacy, adaptation, diplomatic practice, social interaction ‘Can it be that in wading through the plethora of business plans, capability reviews . and other excrescences of the management age, we have indeed forgotten what diplomacy is all about?’—Sir Ivor Roberts, the departing British ambassador to Italy.1 The essence of diplomacy has never disappeared. Yet amid the complexities of the 21st century, the manner by which these core ingredients express themselves can be overshadowed by a myriad of contextual factors both structural and situational. The aim of The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (OHMD) is to display the importance of diplomacy along with its attendant capacity—albeit with many constraints and frustrations—for adaptation. Modern diplomacy in terms of practice may have lost some of its image of exceptionalism, in the sense that it has to compete and interact with a much wider dynamic of agency, conduct itself in a more time-sensitive manner, and be applied with a greater technical orientation. Furthermore, to a far greater extent than in the past, diplomacy is wrapped up with domestic policy-making and political/societal demands about governance across an extended spectrum of issue areas. Such a template, if inculcating some considerable anxieties about the current and future performance of diplomacy, however, confirms both the salience of diplomacy in terms of the form, scope, and intensity of operational activity and the necessary focus of an extended and conceptually informed mode of analysis. What underpins the OHMD is the ambitious and exciting scale of the project. Diplomacy today takes place among multiple sites of authority, power, and influence: (p. 2) mainly states, but also including religious organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multinational corporations, and even individuals, whether they be celebrities, philanthropists, or terrorists. With over fifty contributions, the OHMD covers the repertoire of diplomacy in comprehensive fashion with respect to objectives, interfaces, norms, tools, sites, and impact. Richness of detail is meshed with a consistency of thematic approach: the interplay between what is termed the club and network models of diplomacy. Page 1 of 23 Introduction Before delving deeper into this core typology, nonetheless, there is a need to go back to some of the basic if textured questions about the nature and meaning of diplomacy, its emerging patterns of practice, and relevance for not only policy-makers but a wider cast of actors and set of social interaction. Diplomacy at its essence is the conduct of relationships, using peaceful means, by and among international actors, at least one of whom is usually governmental.2 The typical international actors are states and the bulk of diplomacy involves relations between states directly, or between states, international organizations, and other international actors. There is, it must be acknowledged, some confusion between foreign policy and diplomacy. Books on the diplomacy and diplomatic history of many countries are often treatises on those countries’ foreign policy and the history of their foreign relations. Policy is the provenance of governments. The civil service may shape and influence policy, but is not normally considered to be a policy-maker: that is the domain of the political heads of civil service departments, namely heads of government and cabinet ministers individually and the legislature and political executive collectively. While the formulation and adoption of policy is the responsibility of leaders and ministers, its implementation or execution is the job description of public servants and, in the case of foreign policy, diplomats. Such delivery relies on a mix-and-match set of techniques and tools of persuasion-cum-negotiation and pressure-cum-coercion that draw on soft and hard power assets in various combinations. A nation's diplomat, required to function as his or her country's eyes, ears, and voice abroad, must be aware of national interests and values while being able to understand foreign politics and cultures. The skills required of professional diplomats include intelligence, tact, discretion, circumspection, patience, self-control, teamwork, adaptability, creative imagination, the ability to signal and communicate messages precisely to the target audience while being able to point to plausible alternative meanings to other audiences, and the intellectual facility and linguistic agility to present necessary compromises and accommodation resulting from intense bargaining as win-win outcomes. Matters of state call for delicacy as well as soundness of judgement and failures of either can lead to catastrophic consequences. The diplomat steps aside and the soldier takes over when the government concludes that the goals being pursued can best be achieved through the use of military force—or when the diplomat has bungled. While the threat of use of force, whether explicit or implicit, is still part of the diplomat's arsenal, the actual use of force is required because diplomacy has failed and must be substituted by other instruments of statecraft. (p. 3) 0.1 Antecedents The word ‘diplomacy’ is of surprisingly recent vintage. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, defining it as ‘the art of conducting the intercourse of nations with each other’, noted that ‘It is singular that a term of so much practical importance in politics and history should be so recent in its adoption that it is not to be found in Johnson's dictionary.’3 The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as ‘The management of international relations by negotiation; the method by which these relations are adjusted and managed by ambassadors and envoys.’4 It is derived from a Greek word—a diploma—meaning an official document or state paper. Trained archivists who organized such documents were the first to be called diplomats or ‘those who dealt with diplomas or archives’.5 By the end of the 17th century, words like ‘diplomaticus’ and ‘diplomatique’ were applied more restrictively to treaties or state papers dealing with international relations; diplomats were officials dealing with such matters; ‘diplomatic body’6 referred collectively to ambassadors, envoys, and officials attached to foreign missions; and ‘diplomatic service’ denoted the part of the career public service from which were drawn the personnel working in the permanent missions in other countries. The term ambassador, on the other hand, has been in common usage throughout recorded history. The Oxford English Dictionary provides three definitions:7 1. a. An official messenger sent . by or to a sovereign or public body; an envoy, commissioner, or representative. esp b. A minister of high rank sent by one sovereign or state on a mission to another. 2. A minister at a foreign court, of the highest rank, who there permanently represents his sovereign or country. 3. An appointed or official messenger generally. Page 2 of 23 Introduction The practice of sending official envoys to foreign political jurisdictions to represent a sovereign political entity is very ancient. Rulers in Greece, Persia, India, and China exchanged messages and gifts, negotiated treaties and alliances (often through marriage), signed peace agreements, and sometimes mediated disputes between neighbouring sovereigns. Thus diplomats and the profession of diplomacy existed well before the word was invented to refer to them collectively as a class. Some of the more famous ones from European history include Machiavelli (1469–1527), Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), Talleyrand (1754–1838), Metternich (1773–1859), and Bismarck (1815–1898). Sir Thomas Roe was the British ‘lord ambassador’ at the court of Mughal Emperor Jehangir (1615–1618). The office or institution of ambassador therefore has a long lineage. Many rituals, conventions, and etiquettes have accumulated over centuries to endow the office with distinction, mystique, and glamour. According to Satow's Diplomatic Practice, the earliest known ‘diplomatic document’ is a copy of a letter from the Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla to that of Amazi (about 1000 km away) that was inscribed

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