The most significant change in the nature of diplomacy.

This blog focuses on the change of the nature of the “new diplomacy” at the end of the 20th century.
The most significant change in the nature of diplomacy occurred after the end of the Cold War. In the time of the Cold War, on the top of the agenda of the diplomacy was avoidance of the war conflict and the diplomatic channels were focused on the ideological confrontation between “East and West”.
‘The diplomatic activity was associated with “East-West” confrontation had a single dramatic focus – the absolute necessity of avoiding a global, nuclear conflict that could destroy the international system.’ (Baylis & Smith (2006) p 392)
The diplomacy of the Cold War period has been shaped by the superpowers and the bipolar climate of the international system, for over forty years.
This blog would argue that the watershed marking the change, occurred after the end of the Cold War. The diplomacy has changed, ideological conflict vanished, menace (at least immediate) of the nuclear conflict was resolved by diplomatic negotiations between the superpowers at the end of the Cold War, and the era of spies and bugged embassies ended.
Immediately after the end of the Cold War diplomacy did reach success in 1991 Kuwait conflict, forming diplomatic coalition, which resolved the problem. On the other hand diplomacy did fail in the same year when reluctant attitude of the EU, and nationalistic hunger for power led the Balkan into bloody conflict.
This blog argues that the end of the Cold War witnessed not just the change in the international relations, but gave a way to deeper, wider globalisation, which also changed significantly the nature of diplomacy. The globalisation did bring onto diplomatic stage new players, i.e. NGOs, INGOs, TNCs, different influential lobbies, etc. Those took on an important role in diplomacy and certainly changed the nature of the diplomacy itself, and made the diplomacy more interactive, medialised, open, and thanks to technology development more efficient and faster. ‘The changing interests of states as international actors and the growing number of non-state actors involved changed the nature of the new diplomacy as a process of negotiation. Most obviously, it made diplomacy a more complex activity involving more and different actors.’ (Baylis & Smith (2006) p 391)
In addition the diplomacy, after the Cold War relinquished the course of the solely military security and under the pressure of the new global actors engaged itself in the matters of global issues of economy, environment, culture and international terrorism.