Jonah Patel
Diplomacy is a tool used by governments to influence the actions of foreign governments through peaceful tactics such as negotiation and dialogue. Diplomacy is closely linked to espionage or the gathering of intelligence, with embassies serving as bases for both diplomats and spies. The term diplomacy is derived from the ancient Greek diplōma, meaning an object folded in two, which referred to a document allowing one to travel or be permitted special privileges. Today, diplomacy is used to affect other countries' behaviours to advance one's own national interests and promote political, economic, cultural or scientific relations while maintaining peaceful relationships.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| A means to safeguard interests and promote relations | Peaceful relationships |
| A method to influence the actions of foreign governments | Negotiation and dialogue |
| A way to resolve or prevent disputes | Trade deals |
| A way to discuss mutual problems | Implementing new policies |
| A way to build and tend coalitions | Protection of diplomats |
| A way to deter war | Freedom of movement and travel |
| A way to gather intelligence | Inviolability of official correspondence |
| A way to advance national interests | Immunities for diplomatic agents |
| A way to strengthen peace | Protection of private residences |
| A way to build international order | Respect for diplomatic agents |
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What You'll Learn
The peaceful resolution of disputes
Diplomacy is a tool to advance one's national interests and to peacefully resolve disputes between nations, groups, or individuals. It is a means to influence the behaviour of other countries and to build an international order that promotes cooperation and non-violent resolution of disputes.
Diplomats are specialists in carrying messages and negotiating adjustments in relations. They are the primary practitioners of diplomacy, but they are not the only ones. Thousands of civil servants also manage relations between countries and contribute to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
The United Nations (UN) is a venue for diplomacy and provides a platform for summits and conferences, which are talks between high-level government officials aimed at resolving or preventing disputes. The UN also contributes to regional stability by joining with other countries to promote stability and economic prosperity, and by addressing issues such as international terrorism and illegal drug trafficking.
Day-to-day diplomacy is also crucial to the peaceful resolution of disputes. This includes the daily interactions between countries carried out by embassies, such as discussions between diplomats and cultural exchanges. These relationship-building activities contribute to maintaining peaceful relationships and preventing conflicts from escalating.
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Safeguarding national interests
Diplomacy is a nuanced art that involves safeguarding national interests while fostering international cooperation. It is a means by which nations navigate complex landscapes to advance their agendas and protect their citizens. Here are some ways in which diplomacy safeguards national interests:
Intelligence and Espionage: Diplomacy is closely linked to intelligence-gathering and espionage. Diplomats and embassies serve as fronts for spies, who gather information on foreign nations. For instance, military attachés are diplomats whose primary role is to learn about the military capabilities of the host nation. While this form of espionage is often conducted with the knowledge of the host nation, there are also deep-cover spies operating in embassies who illegally gather intelligence. This intelligence-gathering can provide a nation with valuable insights into the activities of other countries, thereby safeguarding its interests.
Foreign Policy and Treaty Negotiation: Diplomacy is a critical tool for foreign policy, which sets goals and strategies to protect a nation's interests. Diplomats negotiate and facilitate treaties and agreements between nations, helping to resolve disputes peacefully. They advise political leaders and work to build coalitions that deter war and foster peace. Diplomacy is particularly important in navigating regional issues and preventing local conflicts from escalating into wider wars that could harm a nation's interests.
Economic and Trading Relations: Diplomacy plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining economic and trading partnerships. For example, Mexico is a vital trading partner and economic powerhouse for the United States in Central and Southern America, impacting its national interests. Diplomacy helps nations promote economic growth, advance environmental stewardship, and address global challenges like climate change and energy security.
Mutual Understanding and Soft Power: Diplomacy fosters mutual understanding between nations by engaging international audiences on issues of foreign policy, society, and shared values. It involves public diplomacy programs, cultural exchanges, and the use of technology to communicate with foreign audiences. This promotes a nation's interests by creating an environment receptive to its agenda and building alliances.
National Security and Stability: Diplomacy is a key instrument for safeguarding national security and stability. It helps nations navigate the intricate web of international relations, balancing their interests with global responsibilities. Successful diplomacy avoids conflicts by finding common ground and maintaining peaceful relationships. It also involves building coalitions to deter aggression and disrupt hostile alliances, thereby protecting a nation's interests and security.
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Foreign policy and international law
Diplomacy is often confused with foreign policy, but the terms are not synonymous. Diplomacy is the chief, but not the only, instrument of foreign policy. Foreign policy establishes goals, prescribes strategies, and sets the broad tactics to be used in their accomplishment. It may employ secret agents, subversion, war, or other forms of violence as well as diplomacy to achieve its objectives.
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations. Diplomacy and international law are interdependent and complementary facets of international society.
International law heavily regulates diplomacy, providing rules under which it is carried out. For example, the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations of 1961 and 1963 codify centuries of developing practices on the security of diplomats. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) facilitates the development of friendly relations among nations, irrespective of their differing constitutional and social systems. It has become fundamental to the conduct of foreign relations, and ensures that diplomats can work without threats of influence by the host government.
The United States, for example, maintains diplomatic relations with about 180 countries, as well as with many international organizations. The State Department has four main foreign policy goals:
- Protecting America
- Fighting terrorism
- Promoting mutual understanding
- Regional stability
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Espionage and intelligence
Diplomacy is closely linked to espionage and intelligence. Espionage, or the gathering of intelligence, is often carried out by embassies, which serve as bases for both diplomats and spies. Some diplomats are even openly acknowledged spies, such as military attachés whose role includes learning about the military of the nation to which they are assigned. They do not hide this role and are only invited to events allowed by their hosts, like military parades or air shows. There are also deep-cover spies operating in embassies, who are given fake positions but whose main task is to illegally gather intelligence.
Historically, Byzantium's "Bureau of Barbarians" was the first foreign intelligence agency, gathering information on the empire's rivals from various sources. While on the surface, it was a protocol office, it also had a security function, keeping foreign envoys under surveillance to prevent them from obtaining information.
Today, intelligence diplomacy has become a notable concept in international relations. Intelligence can be used as a tool to inform and drive convergence in approaches, enable common actions, and deprive adversaries of advantages. Intelligence sharing with foreign partners can support diplomatic objectives, as seen in the United States' declassification of intelligence exposing the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba in 1962 and the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons in 2017.
The line between official diplomacy and espionage can be blurry, and the practice of espionage presents moral and practical dilemmas for political leaders, particularly regarding civil liberties and national security. Intelligence gathering methods and scope often reflect the delicate balance between these interests. Moreover, the strategic use of intelligence as an instrument of influence in international relations is significant, as nations may utilise covert information to promote their foreign policy goals through disinformation and deception operations.
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Economic diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art, science, and means by which nations, groups, or individuals conduct their affairs, safeguarding their interests and promoting their political, economic, cultural, or scientific relations, while maintaining peaceful relationships. It is often confused with foreign policy, but the terms are not synonymous. Foreign policy establishes goals, prescribes strategies, and sets the broad tactics to be used in their accomplishment. Diplomacy, on the other hand, is the instrument used to achieve these goals.
In a narrow sense, economic diplomacy is about export promotion and inward investment, also known as commercial diplomacy. This involves the exchange of goods, which fosters bargaining skills and cannot flourish without civil relations. It also includes the use of political influence and relationships to promote and influence international trade and investment, improve market functioning, and address market failures to reduce the costs and risks of cross-border transactions.
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Frequently asked questions
Diplomacy is the art, science, and means by which nations, groups, or individuals conduct their affairs, in ways to safeguard their interests and promote their political, economic, cultural, or scientific relations, while maintaining peaceful relationships. Diplomacy is a method that governments use to influence the actions of foreign governments through peaceful tactics such as negotiation and dialogue.
The goal of diplomacy is to affect other countries' behaviors to advance one's own national interests. Diplomacy is the principal substitute for the use of force or underhanded means in statecraft. It is how comprehensive national power is applied to the peaceful adjustment of differences between states.
Diplomacy comes in many forms: negotiations, consultations, back-channel talks, summits and conferences, and day-to-day diplomacy. There is also public diplomacy, economic diplomacy, and cultural diplomacy.
