Brian White on Diplomacy

Brian White explains why there is no short definition of the word 'diplomacy', as there are many different types that have evolved over the centuries and because of this it is nearly impossible to explain. However, White breaks it down quite simply explaining each type and function diplomacy has on world politics and how it's evolved since the ancient and medieval times. It can be said that there are two types of perspectives on world politics 'macro' (the larger picture) focusing on states and world politics collectively and 'micro' (the smaller picture) which focuses on actors and the states. Diplomacy has two main functions in dealing with conflict; to use communication as a means to negotiate a conflict or the use of an economic or military force to achieve its policy.

The forms of diplomacy evolved from the ancient and medieval times of representatives corresponding with each other to resolve conflict, to the Renaissance in Italy when the residence of a permanent diplomatic institution was established. Then came the Traditional diplomacy which had distinctive features: Structure, Process and Agenda. Its structure consisted of communication between modern States rather than with international organisations, these processes developed a certain diplomatic protocol whereby diplomats had to behave in a certain way, they had rights and immunities and were entitled to safeguarding due to their position. The agenda dealt with the issues concerning these diplomats in a bi-lateral way and this was successful for a time, although after WWI due to the breakdown of communications and a failure of traditional diplomacy to stop this from happening, they sought to correct the traditional way by creating the new diplomacy which was more open and less secretive than before and state members and non-state members were also involved in world politics so it was balanced means of communication. The twentieth century saw it becoming a ‘welfare state’ and interested in its citizens.

Diplomacy also changed from a bi-lateral way of dealing with issues to a multilateral way which now included issues such as environment, nuclear arms, and technology. The ‘Cold War’ also brought about new types of diplomacy such as; Nuclear Diplomacy, Crisis Diplomacy and Summit Diplomacy three ways to deal effectively with states that possess nuclear weapons and aren’t afraid to use them or threaten other states with them to get their own way. After the Cold war issues such as poverty began to arise ‘development diplomacy’ was another means of communication between third world and core nation however it wasn’t really fair since these developing countries had no means to ‘bargain’ with western powers, ‘War against terror’ was a challenge for diplomats to deal with after 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Thus over time the role of diplomacy has evolved and is necessary in world politics, many new functions have their roots in the traditional diplomacy with slight adjustments, non- governmental actors have more of a role in the diplomacy of world politics and they are necessary in their role to protect their citizens as in the case of the teacher who went to Saudi Arabia, I think and called that teddy bear Mohammed and as a result was going to be punished, she was then helped out of the country and back to England.

(Something to think about… Why did they help this teacher and not the three English men, of Pakistani descent I think, who were sent to Guantanamo?)