The diplomacy of Global Village

As the world has become increasingly interconnected and interdependent, so does politics amongst states has entered different stage in the way they are conducted. In this globalized world the diplomacy had become a necessity in building up bridges amongst states in variety of issues. Looking back in the history, it is clearly evident that diplomatic activities were mainly in bilateral bases. Furthermore, the old diplomacy lacked the concept of transparency and openness and was of a main concern in regards of security issues. It is argued, it remained so till the end of the Cold War. It was after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the liberal democracy triumphed as the global ideology and led to the transformation in the conduct of diplomatic activities towards a new, transparent way of work. The notion of bilateral diplomacy began fading away, since the need of multilateral negotiations was the key element in establishing a new, peaceful international stage. And as states are not longer willing to fight a war in order to gain status of a super power, the role of diplomacy has increased its importance. In this sense, is inevitable not to mention the role of the public diplomacy, which has been widely accepted as a positive force, where diplomats had become co-ordinators, facilitators and catalysts in the establishment of dialogue between states. In contrary to the propagandistic way of communicating with foreign states, the contemporary public diplomacy is based on the notions of credibility and reliability to promote a positive image in international stage. And what actually the new diplomacy tends to do, is to create a long term relationship amongst states.

The international relations tend to be a lot more complex compared to the ones 20-30 years ago. Huge changes have taken place and especially the increasing role of NGO's in recent diplomatic activities. Inevitable, NGO's and civil service has proven successful on particular issues of global importance, such as climate change, human rights issues and so on. They have managed to gather public support towards these issues and they have been accepted to get involve in a diplomatic activities, which would not been accepted in the traditional diplomacy. NGO's have not only been able to lobby governments but they have also been able to represent underdeveloped states in a multilateral venues, such as the Johannesburg summit, Copenhagen summit, etc. However, NGO's still play a limited role in shaping policies, but they have managed to put pressure on government about certain issues.

As mentioned above, it could be argued, that diplomacy has evolved dramatically in recent years. But on the other hand, it is seen , that the core elements of the traditional diplomacy are still very much intact. Bilateral diplomacy, associated with secrecy and lack of openness still exist. However, at the end of the day, secret or not, diplomacy is the only way international affairs are conducted. But what is the new about diplomacy, is the fact, that it does not longer serve the interest of the few, but is rather trying to work towards the common good.

What is Diplomacy?

Honestly, there were so many interested things learned about diplomacy since the start of the module that is hard so say exactly what the main role of diplomacy is today. I admit in the first lecture when I was asked about the reasons why I have chosen the module, I was not confident about my answer, but today nearly at the end the module I would definitely tell that one of the main roles of diplomacy is to bring peace and dialogue between countries whether bilateral or multilateral diplomacy is used. Before we visited the Swedish Embassy, I would never guess the importance of embassies, because in my mind they are just involved on issuing visas for foreigners who want to visit their countries, issuing or renewing passports for their own nationals and representing their countries abroad. But when we were received by the Vice-Consul of the Swedish embassy who took his time to explain to us that the role of the embassy is more than just issuing visas and passports. For instance he told us that direct contact between personalities of two different countries is very important in the conduct of bilateral relations, meaning that technology is not the most important factor in diplomacy. He also explained how the embassy promotes their country’s brand abroad by working closely with their foreign investors. I understand know why Berridge argues that: ‘The resident embassy is still alive. It has survived the communications and transport revolutions... (Berridge, 2010, 123)’.
In short, I learned more about the embassy and the role played by their diplomats and that gives the envy to become a diplomat myself.
The second interesting factor that has really increased my knowledge in Diplomacy is without doubt the roles played by Non Government Organisations (NGOs). Before we start Multilateral Diplomacy, I could not weight how NGOs were important for states and how closely they were working with the United Nations (UN). This makes me stick to the argument of Ambassador Don Mills who says: ‘The right of NGOs to a presence during UN deliberations rests originally on provisions in Article 71 of the Charter, but the new situation goes far beyond the founders vision (Aviel et al, 2005, 34)’.
Before the module I was not aware that they were heavily involved the same way like the UN in Human Rights, Humanitarian Interventions, landmines etc...
Finally, I would say that the module has really motivated me to learn more about diplomacy and it has also makes me realised that we are all diplomats, to be conscious or not about it is something different.