Brian White on Diplomacy

Brian White points out that diplomacy is a key process of communication and negotiation and that it is an important foreign policy instrument. He sees that from a macro perspective, there is a process of communications between international actors, including dialogue and negotiation, which has the aim of cooperation within world politics. From the micro perspective, diplomacy can be viewed as a policy instrument rather than as a global process. It is an instrument whereby international actors can pursue their goals.
If diplomacy is used directly, this is pure diplomacy. If used with the use or threatened use of other policy instruments, e.g. military, economic, or subversion, this is mixed diplomacy, and can be more effective.
White considers how diplomacy has changed since the fifteenth century according to structure, processes and agenda. When looking at traditional diplomacy White points out that it is from the fifteenth century that permanent embassies were first established. Diplomacy was professionalized as an occupation. Diplomacy’s process was usually bi-lateral and done secretly. The agenda was mostly about ‘high politics’.
White shows how the failure to prevent WW1 created a desire for new diplomacy to be more open and democratically controlled. The result was that multilateral diplomacy increased (e.g. the creation of the League of Nations). Also the scope of diplomacy’s activities changed from a ‘‘nightwatchman state’ to the ‘welfare state’’. New diplomacy’s agenda included ‘low politics’ e.g. economic, social and welfare issues. Also, highly specialized issues came onto the agenda. The limits of this new diplomacy were revealed by WW2.
White then talks about Cold War diplomacy, which involved the superpowers and their allies’ need to avoid a nuclear war but also their desire to win the Cold War. Specialized issues developed during the Cold War, including environment, technology and arms control. White identifies types of diplomacy during this time, e.g. nuclear diplomacy, summit diplomacy and crisis diplomacy.
Diplomacy is used to further foreign policies, in order to achieve national interests. The making and implementing of foreign policy requires a basic diplomatic machinery (e.g. a foreign department and overseas embassies). Diplomats aid policy making by providing information and advice about the country they are based in. White explains that diplomacy involves persuading others to do what you want. Diplomacy has comparative advantages over other instruments, including cost, availability and that it is widely regarded as legitimate.
The war on terror, since 9/11, has meant that diplomacy must take into account both hard and soft instruments of power. Diplomacy is now global in scope, but it is also more complex and fragmented due to a wider agenda and multiple actors being involved. Today, increased levels of interdependence and e.g. communications technology have made diplomacy less about negotiation skills and ‘winning’ and more about a management process and adjustment.
White concludes that although the forms of diplomacy have changed, it remains a highly important process to enable international cooperation to be achieved.