Abstract
Until recently, diplomacy has been regarded as the exclusive domain of the State. Recent evolutions in diplomatic theory and practice however repudiate this State-centric exclusivity. Looking back at past diplomatic practices might shed new light on contemporary diplomacy. The neo-medieval paradigm claims that we are entering a new global setting which in certain aspects resembles that of the Middle Ages. When we see beyond the State-centric concept of diplomacy, a number of tendencies in today’s diplomacy come to the fore showing a striking resemblance with medieval diplomacy, and regional diplomacy plays a paramount role in this process.
Highlights
The neo-medieval paradigm claims that we are entering a new global setting which in certain aspects resembles that of the Middle Ages
When we see beyond the State-centric concept of diplomacy, a number of tendencies in today’s diplomacy come to the fore showing a striking resemblance with medieval diplomacy, and regional diplomacy plays a paramount role in this process
Selon le paradigme néo-médiéval nous entrons dans un contexte mondial inédit qui, par certains aspects, s'apparente à celui du Moyen Age. Lorsqu'on regarde au-delà du concept de diplomatie centralisée, on peut constater que certaines tendances actuelles présentent une ressemblance frappante avec la diplomatie médiévale et que la diplomatie régionale joue un rôle capital dans ce processus
Summary
10 As in the Middle Ages, power in Europe was divided over several overlapping political centres: it was counties and duchies, cities and towns, embryonic nation States like England and Hungary, and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation or the prince bishopric of Liège. It would lead us too far to delve into the vast richness of this paradiplomacy-literature, but one of the most interesting analyses was made by Belgian scholar David Criekemans (2010) who developed an analytical matrix to evaluate the myriad of diplomatic instruments and variations in the organizational structure of diplomacy and foreign policy within different sub-State entities. One of the best analyses of neo-medievalism comes from Jörg Friedrichs (2007) He presents the new Middle Ages as a complex system of overlapping authorities and loyalties, comparable to the situation before the Peace of Westphalia, which heralded the modern State system. A fixed system of delegations and a standing body of resident ambassadors, the core elements of modern diplomacy did not come to light until the end of the 15th century, when a number of Italian cityStates established the first permanent foreign representations This does not mean that medieval polities did not engage in diplomacy. New diplomatic actors such as European regions overcome their limitations regarding the ius legationis and the ius tractati by means of network diplomacy
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