Southern University Bangladesh International Relations

Diplomacy

Introduction: Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between accredited persons (the diploma of the diplomat) representing 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. In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational or social manner. Major Forms of Diplomacy: 1. Bilateral Diplomacy: It is the simplest and the oldest is bilateral diplomacy between two states. Bilateral diplomacy is still common with many treaties between two states (e.g. the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement), and it is the main concern of embassies and state visits. 2. Multilateral Diplomacy: It is the form of diplomacy; involving many states. Formal multilateral diplomacy is normally dated to the Congress of Vienna in the nineteenth century. Since then, multilateralism has grown in importance. Today most trade treaties, such as the WTO and FTAA, arms control agreements, such as the Partial Test Ban Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and environmental agreements, such as the Kyoto Accord, are multilateral. The United Nations is the most important institution of multilateral diplomacy. 3. Regional Diplomacy: There is a third form of diplomacy, a variant of multilateral diplomacy called regional diplomacy; that is, multilateral diplomacy that is practiced within a closed circle of geographic neighbors. We might call it 'multilateral diplomacy among intimates'. Since neighborhood is a fact of life, regional diplomacy involves a close blend of the bilateral and the limited group multilateral methods in pursuit of mutual interests. Activities and Role of Diplomats and Diplomatic Missions: A diplomat is someone involved in diplomacy; the collective term for a group of diplomats from a single country is a diplomatic mission. An ambassador is the most senior diplomatic rank; a diplomatic mission headed by an ambassador is known as an embassy. The collective body of all diplomats resident in a particular country is called a diplomatic corps. (See also diplomatic rank.) There is also the unrecognized, but often used rank of Diplomat for the children of Diplomats. 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-seventeenth 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 s/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"). In recent years, however, signals intelligence has led to this use of diplomatic bags being largely discarded. In times of hostility, diplomats are often withdrawn for reasons of personal safety, and in some cases when the host country is friendly but there is a perceived threat from internal dissidents. Ambassadors and other diplomats are also sometimes recalled by their home countries as a way to express displeasure with the host country. In both cases, lower-level employees remain to actually do the business of diplomacy. Diplomats as a Guarantee: The Middle East and other parts of the world had a very different tradition. In the Ottoman Empire, Persia and other states diplomats were seen as a guarantee of good behaviour. If a nation broke a treaty or if their nationals misbehaved the diplomats would be punished. Diplomats were thus used as an enforcement mechanism on treaties and international law. To ensure that punishing a diplomat mattered rulers insisted on high-ranking figures. This tradition is seen by many as the basis of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. In imitation of previous practices supporters of the Iranian Revolution attempted to punish the United States for its alleged misdeeds by holding their diplomats hostage. Diplomats as a guarantee were also employed sometimes in premodern Europe and other parts of Asia. Diplomacy and Espionage: Diplomacy is closely linked to espionage. Embassies are bases for both diplomats and spies, and some diplomats are essentially openly-acknowledged spies. For instance, the job of military attachs includes learning as much as possible about the military of the nation to which they are assigned. They do not try to hide this role and, as such, are only invited to events allowed by their hosts, such as military parades or air shows. There are also deep-cover spies operating in many embassies. These individuals are given fake positions at the embassy, but their main task is to illegally gather intelligence, usually by coordinating spy-rings of locals or other spies. For the most part, spies operating out of embassies gather little intelligence themselves and their identities tend to be known by the opposition. If discovered, these diplomats can be expelled from an embassy, but for the most part counter-intelligence agencies prefer to keep these agents in situ and under close monitoring. The information gathered by spies plays an increasingly important role in diplomacy. Armscontrol treaties would be impossible without the power of reconnaissance satellites and agents to monitor compliance. Information gleaned from espionage is useful in almost all forms of diplomacy, everything from trade agreements to border disputes.

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 becoming independent, even many of the closest allies of the Republic of the Netherlands refused to grant it full recognition. Today there are a number of independent entities without widespread diplomatic recognition, most notably the Republic of China on Taiwan. Since the 1970's, 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 Taiwan until 1979, when these relations were broken off as a condition for establishing official relations with China. Other unrecognized countries include Abkhazia, Transnistria, Somaliland, 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." Informal Diplomacy: 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 county'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.

Characteristics of Diplomacy:
Diplomacy is the art of obtaining agreement between countries who need one another's cooperation to create or maintain a situation in which each of them has an interest. The needed cooperation may involve refraining from certain kinds of behavior as well as changing the location or condition of people, goods, structures, military deployments, and other assets. The premise of diplomacy is that these behaviors would not occur automatically: they require the positive or negative stimuli of deliberate international (usually intergovernmental) interaction among those with the power to bring about the desired results. It is not diplomacy, for example, when the immigration officials of a country bar a group of refugees from coming into the country, nor when the supporters of the refugees voice their outrage; diplomacy transpires when officials of the affected countries interact with one another to clarify or modify the rules and procedures each of them will be applying to deal with the situation.

1. The Essential Characteristics of Diplomacy Conventionally equated with negotiations to resolve international conflict, diplomacy is widely regarded as an alternative to war and war as a failure of diplomacy. But diplomacy can also be the essential process in a no adversarial interaction of friendly countries attempting to obtain the best allocation of costs and benefits in a commonly sought project. The term 'diplomatic' has been imported from the international into the domestic realm, where it is commonly applied to relations among groups or individuals in which polite interaction is artfully employed to avoid otherwise tense confrontations; however, the discussion here will be confined to the characteristics and role of diplomacy in the international realm. Diplomacy, so defined, refers mainly to agreement-seeking behavior on the part of national governments. Diplomats are the officials who do the actual negotiation. But not all diplomats are engaged in negotiations; some merely represent their governments in foreign lands or international forums, conveying information about their home countries, and reporting back on conditions at their posts. Bargaining and informational diplomacy are practiced as well by international actors other than nation states namely, the United Nations, the European Union, numerous specialized intergovernmental organizations, and, increasingly, various nongovernmental organizations, particularly those that are accorded quasi-official status in certain international forums. Although the most important and characteristic aspect of diplomacy is face-to-face bargaining among officials of governments, such bargaining is also frequently conducted through unilateral pronouncements by officials of what they will or will not accept. Diplomacy's principal medium is verbal communication spoken, written, often electronically transmitted and therefore is itself basically nonviolent; but the words may threaten, or be delivered simultaneously with coercive action, even massive military attacks, to alter an adversary's assessment of the costs and benefits of accepting or rejecting particular arrangements. Diplomacy's attribute resides in its purpose international agreement; as such it requires a modicum of nonviolent interaction, even when that interaction is coerced (as in the imposition of surrender terms at the end of a war by the victors on the vanquished). Diplomatic undertakings may fail, in that agreement is not obtained; but, succeed or fail, as long as the purpose of the international interaction is agreement, it is still diplomacy. Without any interaction, however in particular, verbal interaction to at least explore possibilities for agreement there can be no diplomacy. 2. Diplomacy as a Reflection of World Politics The rules and rituals of international diplomacy have never been a self-contained system. The picture of the diplomat as an impeccably mannered aristocrat exchanging toasts, repartee, and subtle threats with his counterparts is a caricature derived from the Parisian scene in the court of Louis XIV. Rather, the protocols of diplomacy have always been a subsystem of the more comprehensive system of political relationships prevailing during a particular era among various sets of countries and international organizations. Thus, as world politics have evolved, so have the rituals, forms, and objectives of diplomacy, even though its most basic function to forge agreements among international actors has persisted. 3. The Requisites of Effective Diplomacy Diplomacy in the world polity, like legislation in domestic polities, is directed toward getting parties to agree on a particular course of action (or inaction), so they will not have to be physically forced to accept it. But unlike the domestic legislative process, in which it is sufficient to obtain agreement among a controlling majority for the course of action to take place, in international diplomacy each participating state normally has the recognized unilateral right to accept or refuse what even a substantial majority of the states have agreed upon. (The major exception to this norm is the UN Security Council's authority, in

situations threatening international peace and security, to order all states to obey its resolution.) Thus, diplomatic strategies must always be targeted specifically on each state whose adherence to an agreement is sought. Each state must be convinced that its own interests will be better served by agreeing to the arrangements under discussion than in refusing to agree. Effective diplomacy, accordingly, requires the ability to induce agreement from states that may initially be opposed to a contemplated arrangement, but whose acquiescence is essential for its realization. Skillful diplomats are able to secure favorable terms for their countries by persuasively outlining the benefits and costs their counterparts can expect from alternative arrangements. This requires a detailed and accurate understanding of both the material conditions and the political circumstances (domestic and international) of the countries involved in a particular diplomatic encounter. States with the material resources to affect their counterparts' preferences for alternative outcomes by credibly offering to provide valued objects ('carrots') or threatening to apply uncomfortable or painful sanctions ('sticks') have traditionally enjoyed an enormous advantage in the arenas of international diplomacy. But increasingly, states, international organizations, and political movements, deficient in the relevant material assets are able to redress such resource-power imbalances through artful appeal to, and manipulation of, the cultural and political values of the parties to a negotiation, other governments, and implicated transnational and sub national groups. Success in regional and global coalition-building (what used to be called 'balance of power' politics), now penetrating beyond the crust of state sovereignty, has become the most important requisite of effective diplomacy, especially the new diplomacy.

Functions of a Diplomat:
Diplomats represent their home country and maintain good relations with the host country, or the country in which they work. A diplomat usually lives in the embassy of his country, which is normally located in the host country's capital. "Diplomat" is the general term used to describe everyone in the Foreign Service from the ambassador to his entourage of assistants. To protect them while they are in a foreign country, they are granted diplomatic immunity, or freedom from prosecution, by the host country Basic functions of a diplomatic mission include:

Represent the home country in the host country Protect the interests of the home country and its citizens in the host country Negotiate with the government of the host country Monitor and report on conditions and developments in the commercial, economic, cultural, and scientific life of the host country Promote friendly relations between the host country and the home country Develop commercial, economic, cultural, and scientific relations between the host country and the home country. Issue passports, travel documents, and visas

A diplomat usually responsible for performing the following functions: 1. Reporting:

Diplomats in posts collect and report information that could affect national interests, often with advice about how the home country government should respond. Then, once any policy response has been decided in the home country's capital, posts bear major responsibility for implementing it. Diplomats have

the job of conveying, in the most persuasive way possible, the views of the home government to the governments to which they are accredited and, in doing so, to try to convince those governments to act in ways that suit home country interests. In this way, diplomats are part of the beginning and the end of each loop in the continuous process through which foreign policy is made. In general, it has become harder for diplomats to act autonomously. Whereas in the past Thomas Jefferson could write to his Secretary of State, "We have not heard from our Ambassador in Spain for two years. If we do not hear from him this year, let us write him a letter", secure communication systems, emails and mobile telephones can track down and instruct the most reclusive head of mission. The same technology in reverse gives diplomats the capacity for more immediate input about the policy-making processes in the home capital. Secure email has transformed the contact between diplomats and the ministry. It is less likely to be leaked, and enables more personal contact than the formal cablegram, with its wide distribution and impersonal style.

2. Advocacy:
The home country will usually send instructions to a diplomatic post on what foreign policy goals to pursue, but decisions on tactics - who needs to be influenced, what will best persuade them, who are potential allies and adversaries, and how it can be done - are for the diplomats overseas to make.

In this operation, the intelligence, integrity, cultural understanding and energy of individual diplomats are critical. If they are any good at their jobs, they will have developed relationships grounded in trust and mutual understanding with influential members of the country in which they are accredited. They will have worked hard to understand the motives, thought patterns and culture of the other side.

3. Negotiation:
The diplomat should be an excellent negotiator but, above all, a catalyst for peace and understanding between peoples. The role is the principal element in the peaceful relations between states because its scope ends when the fighting starts war and could, at best, act simultaneously.

4. Promoting Friendly Relations:

Diplomats are responsible for developing commercial, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the host country and the home country. They negotiate with the government of the host country and discuss issues such as foreign aid or treaties.

5. Protecting Interests of Home Country:

Diplomats protect the interests of their home country and its citizens by providing updates about political and economic developments in their host country. They help their citizens who are traveling abroad and they also evacuate refugees. They explain and defend the foreign policy of their home country in a diplomatic way.

6. Providing Consular Services:

Diplomats issue passports, travel documents and visas. They also give financial assistance to the citizens of their home country who become destitute in the host country. They visit their citizens who have been arrested and provide appropriate assistance. They help the relatives of citizens who died abroad.

7. Acting as Spokesperson:
Diplomats hold press conferences in the host country on issues related to their home country. They answer questions from the local and foreign media assigned in their host country on matters that involve their home country and its citizens.