Lecture 2

Definition

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What is Diplomacy?
Diplomacy, the established method of influencing the decisions and behavior of foreign
governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or
violence.
Modern diplomatic practices are a product of the post-Renaissance European state system.
Historically, diplomacy meant the conduct of official (usually bilateral) relations between
sovereign states.
By the 20th century, however, the diplomatic practices pioneered in Europe had been
adopted throughout the world, and diplomacy had expanded to cover summit meetings and
other international conferences, parliamentary diplomacy, the international activities of
supranational and subnational entities, unofficial diplomacy by nongovernmental elements,
and the work of international civil servants.

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 he folded document
The term diplomacy is
conferred a privilege— Later it applied to all
derived via French from
often a permit to travel— solemn documents issued
the ancient Greek
on the bearer, and the by chancelleries,
diplōma, composed of
term came to denote especially those
diplo, meaning “folded in
documents through which containing agreements
two,” and the suffix -ma,
princes granted such between sovereigns.
meaning “an object.”
favours.

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Diplomacy later became identified
with international relations, and the
direct tie to documents lapsed (except
in diplomatics, which is the science of
authenticating old official documents).
In the 18th century the French term
diplomate (“diplomat” or
“diplomatist”) came to refer to a
person authorized to negotiate on
behalf of a state.
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In this lesson, we discusses:
 the nature of diplomacy,
its history,
and the ways in which modern diplomacy is conducted,
 including the selection and training of diplomats
 and the organization of diplomatic bodies.
For a discussion of the legal rules governing diplomatic negotiation and the
preparation of treaties and other agreements, see international law.
One venue for diplomacy, the United Nations (UN), is considered in detail
under that title.

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Nature and purpose
Diplomacy is often confused with foreign policy, but the terms are not synonymous.

Diplomacy is the chief, but not the only, instrument of foreign policy, which is set by political
leaders, though diplomats (in addition to military and intelligence officers) may advise them.
Foreign policy establishes goals, prescribes strategies, and sets the broad tactics to be used in
their accomplishment.
It may employ secret agents, subversion, war, or other forms of violence as well as diplomacy
to achieve its objectives.
Diplomacy is the principal substitute for the use of force or underhanded means in statecraft; it
is how comprehensive national power is applied to the peaceful adjustment of differences
between states.

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It may be coercive (i.e., backed by the threat to apply punitive measures or to
use force) but is overtly nonviolent.
 Its primary tools are international dialogue and negotiation, primarily
conducted by accredited envoys (a term derived from the French envoyé,
meaning “one who is sent”) and other political leaders.
Unlike foreign policy, which generally is enunciated publicly, most diplomacy
is conducted in confidence, though both the fact that it is in progress and its
results are almost always made public in contemporary international relations.

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Purpose of Foreign Policy
The purpose of foreign policy is to further a state’s interests, which are derived
from geography, history, economics, and the distribution of international power.
Safeguarding national independence, security, and integrity—territorial,
political, economic, and moral—is viewed as a country’s primary obligation,
followed by preserving a wide freedom of action for the state.
The political leaders, traditionally of sovereign states, who devise foreign
policy pursue what they perceive to be the national interest, adjusting national
policies to changes in external conditions and technology.

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Purpose if Diplomacy
The purpose of diplomacy is to strengthen the state, nation, or organization it serves in relation
to others by advancing the interests in its charge.
To this end, diplomatic activity endeavors to maximize a group’s advantages without the risk
and expense of using force and preferably without causing resentment.
It habitually, but not invariably, strives to preserve peace; diplomacy is strongly inclined toward
negotiation to achieve agreements and resolve issues between states.
Even in times of peace, diplomacy may involve coercive threats of economic or other punitive
measures or demonstrations of the capability to impose unilateral solutions to disputes by the
application of military power.

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However, diplomacy normally seeks to develop goodwill toward the state it
represents, nurturing relations with foreign states and peoples that will ensure their
cooperation or—failing that—their neutrality.
When diplomacy fails, war may ensue; however, diplomacy is useful even during
war.
It conducts the passages from protest to menace, dialogue to negotiation,
ultimatum to reprisal, and war to peace and reconciliation with other states.
Diplomacy builds and tends the coalitions that deter or make war.

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Diplomats
Diplomats are the primary but far from the only practitioners of diplomacy.

They are specialists in carrying messages and negotiating adjustments in relations and the
resolution of quarrels between states and peoples.
Their weapons are words, backed by the power of the state or organization they represent.

Diplomats help leaders to understand the attitudes and actions of foreigners and to develop
strategies and tactics that will shape the behavior of foreigners, especially foreign governments.
The wise use of diplomats is a key to successful foreign policy.

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History of diplomacy
The ancient world

The view in late medieval Europe that the first diplomats were angels, or messengers from heaven to
earth, is perhaps fanciful, but some elements of diplomacy predate recorded history.

Early societies had some attributes of states, and the first international law arose from intertribal
relations. Tribes negotiated marriages and regulations on trade and hunting.

Messengers and envoys were accredited, sacred, and inviolable; they usually carried some emblem,
such as a message stick, and were received with elaborate ceremonies.
Information regarding the diplomacy of early peoples is based on sparse evidence.

The greatest knowledge of early diplomacy comes from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, China,
and India.

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The Ancient World

• The first records of • Ancient India was home to an

China

India
Chinese and Indian

Greece
equally sophisticated but very
diplomacy date from the different diplomatic tradition.
1st millennium BCE. By This tradition was systematized
the 8th century BCE the and described in the Artha-
shastra (one of the oldest books
Chinese had leagues, in secular Sanskrit literature) by
missions, and an organized Kautilya, a clever and reputedly
system of polite discourse unscrupulous scholar-statesman
between their many who helped the young
“warring states,” Chandragupta to overthrow
including resident envoys Macedonian rule in northern
India and to establish the
who served as hostages to Mauryan dynasty at the end of
the good behaviour of the 4th century BCE.
those who sent them.
• The tradition that ultimately
inspired the birth of modern
diplomacy in post-Renaissance
Europe and that led to the
present world system of
international relations began in
ancient Greece. The earliest
evidence of Greek diplomacy
can be found in its literature,
notably in Homer’s Iliad and
Odyssey. Otherwise, the first
traces of interstate relations
concern the Olympic Games of
776 BCE.

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The Concert of Europe to the outbreak
of World War I
Balance of power and the Concert of Europe

Through the many wars and peace congresses of the 18th century, European diplomacy strove
to maintain a balance between five great powers: Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia.
 1. Congress of Vienna was convened in 1814–15 to set new boundaries, re-create the balance
of power, and guard against future French hegemony.
2. It also dealt with international problems internationally, taking up issues such as rivers, the
slave trade, and the rules of diplomacy.
3. Initially, meetings of the Concert were attended by rulers, chancellors, and foreign ministers.

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Diplomacy since World War I; The Soviet model.

 World War 1 accelerated many changes in diplomacy. Sparked by the world war, the Russian
Revolution of 1917 produced a great power regime that rejected the views of the Western world and
that used political language including the terms democracy, propaganda, and subversion in new ways.

The League of Nations and the revival of conference diplomacy.

Despite its risks and inherent complexity, conference diplomacy was revived during World War I and
continued afterward, especially during the 1920s.

New styles of diplomacy.

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 Modern diplomatic practice
Diplomatic agents
Diplomatic tasks

According to the Vienna Convention, the functions of a diplomatic mission include

(1) the representation of the sending state in the host state at a level beyond the merely social and ceremonial;

(2) the protection within the host state of the interests of the sending state and its nationals, including their property
and shares in firms;

(3) the negotiation and signing of agreements with the host state when authorized;

(4) the reporting and gathering of information by all lawful means on conditions and developments in the host country
for the sending government; and (5) the promotion of friendly relations between the two states and the furthering of
their economic, commercial, cultural, and scientific relations.

(5) the promotion of friendly relations between the two states and the furthering of their economic, commercial,
cultural, and scientific relations.
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Diplomatic agreements
If a negotiation succeeds, the result is embodied in an international instrument,
of which there are several types.
The most solemn is a treaty, a written agreement between states that is binding
on the parties under international law and analogous to a contract in civil law.
Treaties are registered at the UN and may be bilateral or multilateral;
international organizations also conclude treaties both with individual states and
with each other.

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Conference Diplomacy
Professional diplomats are rarely dominant in conferences, where the primary
role is usually played by politicians or experts especially at summits, the most
spectacular type.
Heads of state or government or foreign ministers meet bilaterally or
multilaterally.

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Personnel
Diplomatic personnel undergo rigorous selection and training before
representing their country abroad.
Except in a few cases, those conducting diplomacy are usually professional
diplomats, whether ambassadors or third secretaries, or specialists with the title
of attaché. Some regimes still use ambassadorships to exile political opponents;
others, such as Britain, deviate from career appointments occasionally for special
but nonpolitical reasons.

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Conclusion
Diplomacy, Art of conducting relationships for gain without conflict.

It is the chief instrument of foreign policy. Its methods include secret negotiation by accredited
envoys (though political leaders also negotiate) and international agreements and laws. Its use
predates recorded history.
The goal of diplomacy is to further the state’s interests as dictated by geography, history, and
economics.
Safeguarding the state’s independence, security, and integrity is of prime importance;
preserving the widest possible freedom of action for the state is nearly as important. Beyond that,
diplomacy seeks maximum national advantage without using force and preferably without
causing resentment.

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