Diplomatic Crisis Research Articles

Between Blocs And Blockades: Qatar’s Diplomatic Dilemma And Strategic Maneuvers

The article aims to analyze the dynamics of the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis in the context of the transforming geopolitics of the Gulf. The goal of the article is to examine the political causes of the crisis, which are directly related to regional competition and the change of power balance in the Gulf region, and to reveal why Qatar's diplomatic crisis was resolved years later without any concessions from Qatar. The article focuses on Qatar's foreign policy ambitions, Saudi Arabia's harsh opposition against it, and Doha's further expansion, which ultimately led to Qatar's five-year blockade. The study also examines the resolution of the crisis and the normalization of the relations between Saudi Arabia and its allies with Qatar, which was conditioned by the imperative to stabilize the security environment in the region. Saudi Arabia wanted to demonstrate that Riyad will continue to be the most influential player in the Gulf region. Qatar did not make tangible concessions but accepted the rules of the game.

Religion and responsibility in international relations: Thatcher, Mahathir, and The Satanic Verses

Abstract The crisis over Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses exposed the contrasting ways Western and Muslim actors understand the place of religion in international order and the responsibilities of states in religious controversies. No other Muslim national leader supported Ayatollah Khomeini’s call for Rushdie’s death in 1989, but many Muslims expressed anger and disbelief that Britain and Western powers could not restrict a book that caused so much international disturbance. This paper seeks to understand this discord through the overlapping but conflicted language games of Western and Muslim national leaders. It analyses a previously unreported exchange of letters between British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, along with other recently released archival material from the diplomatic crisis. These letters reflected different unwritten rules informing the actors’ understandings and practices of international order, despite their shared acceptance of the sovereignty of national states. For Mahathir, the Western world was itself a religious identity, and its collective propagation of The Satanic Verses compounded a religious insult to the Muslim world. But Thatcher and other British actors did not see religious identities, especially their own, as basic elements of international relations, instead reasserting the secular primacy of national states.

La caricatura política como signo visual durante el primer trimestre del gobierno del presidente Daniel Noboa.

This study analyzes the political cartoons of Xavier Bonilla (Bonil) and Vilma Vargas (Vilmatraca) in Ecuador during the beginning of Daniel Noboa's government (November 23, 2023 - February 25, 2024), focusing on five critical themes: Inauguration of Power, Popular Consultation, Drug Trafficking, VAT Increase, and Diplomatic Crisis with Russia. It explores the visual and textual representations in the intentionally selected works, analyzing drawing techniques, use of colors, facial expressions, and cultural references. This study shows how Bonil and Vilmatraca use signs and symbols to critique and comment on the political and social situation, demonstrating semiotics as an essential tool for understanding visual communication in politics. The study highlights the role of cartoons in provoking reflection on the Ecuadorian reality.

Syria in Turkey-US Relations: Security, Terror and Strategic Dilemmas

Turkey-US relations have historically been influenced by periodic developments, sometimes becoming strong or fragile. In this context, the relations between Turkey and the US have been deeply affected by the presence of the PKK/PYD/YPG in northern Syria and the US support for these groups. Turkey considers the PYD/YPG as an extension of the PKK and perceives it as a direct threat to its national security. On the other hand, the US supports this group by renaming it the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and describing it as the most effective ground force against DAESH. This situation has damaged the relationship between the two NATO allies, leading to diplomatic crises and regional strategic misalignments. Turkey’s cross-border operations and the US support for the PYD/YPG are the most significant points of tension overshadowing the common interests of the two countries. Despite these challenges, Turkey and the US have the potential to protect their common interests in counter-terrorism and regional security matters. This study analyzes how Turkey’s policies in Syria have been shaped by the US support for the PYD/YPG and how the tensions in this context have affected the strategic goals of both countries. Turkey’s national security strategies and its cooperation dynamics with the US can be reshaped through diplomatic negotiations and strategic cooperation mechanisms. In this framework, the advancement of relations on a more constructive basis will be possible if both sides act with mutual understanding and flexibility.

Changes in Crisis Diplomacy in the 21st Century

This article explores the transformation of crisis diplomacy in the 21st century and reflects on the evolution of crisis diplomacy from primarily focusing on national and international conflicts to encompassing broader global crises such as climate change, public health, and technological interference. The discussion revolves around three main themes: the increasingly complex global crisis that transcends borders, the increasing influence of non-governmental actors in shaping diplomatic participation, and the impact of the rapid development of information technology on diplomatic practice. The paper emphasizes how traditional diplomatic methods can be adjusted to address the interdependence and multifaceted nature of modern crises, which require international cooperation efforts and innovative diplomatic strategies. Analyze and draw on historical examples, compare past diplomatic methods with contemporary approaches that integrate non-state actors and digital platforms, and emphasize the need to expand diplomatic scope in today's interdependent global environment.

When socialization fails: breaking the habit of engagement with China

Abstract Why do states sustain failing policy? The literature on path dependency and cognitive habits shows how foreign policy logics become axiomatic. Yet these explanations focus too much on people and not enough on policies. We argue that the content of policies matters for the degree and depth of their entrenchment. Policies with long-term time horizons, immeasurable objectives and diffuse effects are especially vulnerable to stasis. Engagement policies toward China are a paradigmatic example. We focus on Canada's engagement policy, which exhibits both stasis and change, and refer to similar policies of other countries. Drawing on primary evidence including interviews with high-level diplomats and decision-makers, we find that engagement aimed at socializing China was sustained despite growing evidence of its failure—including through a multi-year diplomatic crisis. Change only became possible through ‘institutionalized debate’, meaning the purposeful creation of formal channels for debate. The article makes three contributions. First, we identify a novel explanation of stasis, showing that the content of policies matters. Second, we introduce a practical pathway—institutionalized debate—that can disrupt stasis once a policy logic is habituated. Finally, we identify an aspect of socialization ignored in the literature: when operationalized as policy, it becomes resistant to reversal.

The Code of 2017 Qatar-GCC Diplomatic Crisis: The Trial of the Status Quo with Change

The Code of 2017 Qatar-GCC Diplomatic Crisis: The Trial of the Status Quo with Change

The Ottomans and International Law: The Russian Annexation of the Crimean Khanate in 1783 in the Light of the Documents from the Ottoman Archives

The Russian annexation of the Crimean Khanate was a severe blow to the Ottomans, since the empire was forced to accept the annexation of an independent polity populated by Muslims without a shot being fired, and against the stipulations of past treaties. While the Crimean population sent delegations to the imperial capital and asked for help, the Ottomans also feared the harm the annexation would inflict on their legitimacy; however, they were aware of their military and financial weakness in the face of the Austro-Russian alliance and could not risk a multi-front war. To handle this difficult situation, the Ottoman government resorted to two strategies: first, it sought an intra-bureaucratic consensus by employing the consultation principle of Islamic governance to allow bureaucratic participation in the decision-making process with unanimous decisions to avoid any criticisms that would trigger a popular backlash and, secondly, legitimizing the government policy by benefiting from the principles of Islamic law and portraying the current situation as a temporary one which would be corrected once the empire gained enough military strength. This article will use primary and secondary sources to show how the Ottoman government navigated this diplomatic crisis while aiming to legitimize its decisions by creatively adapting the principles of Islamic international law (siyar). It will emphasize the interaction between political authority, legitimacy, and Islamic law by discussing how the Ottomans interpreted Islamic law with respect to the termination of treaties and to power asymmetry in war decisions when the empire faced a multi-front war with Russia and Austria.

Beijing Winter Olympics and China’s Middle East Diplomacy in the Xi Era

ABSTRACT Sports diplomacy, host diplomacy and pandemic diplomacy intertwined in the Beijing Winter Olympics and jointly served China’s overall diplomacy. The Middle East region has a long history of participation in the Winter Olympics. A total of seven Middle East countries, including Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Iran, participated in Beijing Winter Olympics, while Israel and Iran participated in the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games. Middle East countries generally help China break the politicization of the Winter Olympics from other countries. Thanks to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese president and leaders of Middle East countries met offline for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also conducive to the new development of relations between China and the Middle East in the post-pandemic era. The leaders of Egypt, the UAE and Qatar also took the opportunity of attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics to hold their own meetings, which is conducive to the further repair of the relations among these countries since the Qatar diplomatic crisis. The Beijing Winter Olympics objectively set up a platform to promote the easing of crisis issues in the Middle East.

Balance of Threat Analysis in Resolving the Diplomatic Crisis of Qatar and Saudi Arabia in 2017-2020

The regional closeness of Persian Gulf countries faced a threat due to Qatar's foreign policy approach. Despite having the lowest military expenditure among Gulf countries, Qatar diverged from Saudi Arabia's policy of fostering stability in the Persian Gulf region to distance itself from groups deemed a threat to the domestic politics of other Gulf nations. Qatar's pursuit of greater democratic freedoms and a more moderate approach to international relations prompted Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations to impose a diplomatic blockade in 2017. Despite this, Qatar's flexible foreign policy helped it avoid a prolonged domestic crisis. Establishing ties with nearby countries like Iran and Turkey and acquiring fighter aircraft from France and the United States garnered international support beyond its region. This research will examine Qatar's efforts to navigate the diplomatic crisis using a balance of threat approach—a key concept in Neorealism theory that posits an anarchic international structure requiring countries to navigate the global political stage for survival.

Exploring the Repercussions of Bilateral Military Intrusions in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia and Kenya’s Invasion of Somalia

From antiquity to the present, states considered military intervention to be one of their tools for pursuing foreign policy objectives. The primary objective of this study is to investigate why Ethiopia’s and Kenya’s military interventions that used military intervention as their foreign policy largely failed to achieve their intervention objectives. The article used a single case study (the invasion of neighbors into Somalia territory) based on process tracing methodology, which seeks to explain why Ethiopia’s and Kenya’s interventions have largely failed (or been partially successful) in achieving the proclaimed goals. The article uses the “good enough” approach to analyze the operational outcomes of military incursions into Somalia by Kenya and Ethiopia. The study concludes that the intended goals were only partially achieved based on the findings. Due to inadequate pre-intervention planning, the presence of an intervening coalition, and strained historical ties between Ethiopia and Somalia, Ethiopia’s intervention was mainly ineffective. In contrast, Kenya’s weak pre-intervention planning, domestic circumstances, diplomatic crisis, and rivalry among regional powers have all contributed to the country’s interventions’ major failure. Thus, the results of the operations in Ethiopia and Kenya show that using military force alone as an instrument of foreign policy was ineffective; it needed to be combined with diplomacy and other means.

Relations between the EU and the GCC after the end of the Qatar diplomatic crisis in the political and security domains

Relations between the EU and the GCC after the end of the Qatar diplomatic crisis in the political and security domains

Qatari Diplomatic Crisis 2017–2021: The Causes of the Crisis and the Ways of Its Resolution

Qatari Diplomatic Crisis 2017–2021: The Causes of the Crisis and the Ways of Its Resolution

Twitter Diplomacy in the UAE and Saudi Arabia: Managing Media Crises

The study explores Twitter diplomacy as a tool for managing media crises in the mainstream American and British media, with a particular focus on four significant political topics concerning the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. These include the Qatar diplomatic crisis, the Yemeni war, Iran, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The study evaluates the impact of Twitter diplomacy on media coverage of these issues. It covers three new research areas: Arabian Gulf Twitter diplomacy, the influence of Twitter diplomacy on American and British mainstream media, and examine the utilization of traditional and social media in both Western and Arabian Gulf contexts. The findings of the study suggest that Twitter diplomacy alone cannot address Western media crises. The study employed a qualitative descriptive methodology that utilized a combination of data collection techniques and qualitative analysis methods, including critical discourse analysis and elite interviews.

Covert Diplomacy to Overcome a Crisis: West German and Israeli Intelligence after the Munich Olympics Attack

Abstract What happens among intelligence communities when two countries face a diplomatic crisis? This article looks at the interactions between the West German Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) and Israel's Mossad in a multilateral liaison called the Club de Berne after the Munich Olympics attack in September 1972. The article shows that these covert links were a means to overcome the crisis and served different functions for each side. For the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), which had been severely criticized after giving in to terrorist pressure, the BfV tried to prove to Israel its value as a security asset. For Israel, the Club de Berne allowed Mossad to send a covert message that aimed to pressure the FRG into a no-negotiation line. For both, the agencies could build on preexisting relations based on trust in the Club de Berne, which helped with the normalization process after the crisis. Although diplomatic and domestic policies after the Munich attack are well known, the intelligence dimension has thus far not been explored. The article offers a new way of thinking about covert diplomacy in theory and practice.

«Il più efficace cooperatore dei negozi diplomatici»? Adelaide Ristori e il conte Cavour

In April 1861, just one month after the proclamation of the Unification of Italy, Prime Minister Cavour defined Adelaide Ristori «the most effective co-operator of diplomatic negotiations», praising her work at the court of the Czar in the winter of 1860. The letter is well-known since the 19th century and has been the key for creating the myth of the Grande Attore as a tool for cultural diplomacy. During her career, Ristori undoubtedly fascinated international audiences and kings, and thus acted as an effective tool for soft power. However, it is unclear to what extent her action was the result of aware foreign policies by the rising Kingdom of Italy. Drawing upon partially uncharted archival documentation, this essay reconstructs Ristori’s activity at the court of Alexander II, framing her Russian tour in the turbulent context of the Russian-Sardinian relations in the aftermath of Garibaldi’s expedition. In fact, Ristori left for Saint Petersburg during a diplomatic crisis: the Czar had recalled his Ambassador in Turin after the Piedmont army had invaded Naples; Cavour had recalled his delegation. The bilateral relationships were interrupted, although theatrical companies kept on moving across borders. Cavour asked Ristori to ‘convert’ the Russian minister of Foreign affairs, Prince Gorčakov: the fascination for the celebrity could sustain Italy’s cause. Between ceremonial and theatre stages, the peculiar affair imposes a new reflection on the relationship between theatre, celebrity, and influence in the 19th century.

Activities of the Turkish Maarif Educational Foundation in Confrontation with the Hizmet Movement

Educational programs can be a valuable tool in the cultural diplomacy of modern countries. As a soft power tool, organizations seek to expand their geographic reach by opening educational institutions in different parts of the world in order to spread the influence of their state. In Türkiye, such an organization has long been the Hizmet movement, and in recent years it has been a state-owned the Maarif Foundation . In the study, for the first time in Russian Oriental Studies, an analysis of the activities of the Turkish state Maarif educational foundation in the confrontation with the banned in Türkiye and a number of countries’ Hizmet movements is conducted. Since the declaration of this structure as a terrorist organization on the territory of Türkiye, the Maarif Foundation has been reassigning educational institutions around the world. The most important event in this regard is the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, in which Fethullah Gülen, the ideological mastermind of the movement, was accused. As a result, all schools associated with the Hizmet movement were closed in Türkiye. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that it considers almost the only case in history of confrontation between two organizations, which are instruments of “soft power” of a country. The purpose of the study is to examine the current issues of the Maarif Foundation’s activities as part of the confrontation with the Hizmet movement. The work includes a qualitative analysis of the official documents of the Turkish state foundation, the laws of the Republic of Türkiye, as well as a discourse analysis of Hizmet’s media products. As a result, it was revealed that despite the rather successful work of the Turkish state educational organization in question, it is not necessary to speak about the complete defeat of Hizmet by the beginning of 2023. By now Maarif state foundation regulates the activity of educational institutions in 49 countries, while according to our calculations the Gülen movement retains a high status in 60 states. It has been revealed that Hizmet’s activities directly or indirectly influence Türkiye’s interstate relations with those countries where Gülen schools operate. It has been established that the demands of the Turkish side to close the institutions of the movement have led to short-lived diplomatic crises between Ankara and some of the host countries. It has been shown that the emergence of Maarif in a particular country does not necessarily lead to the closure of Gülen institutions.

Cafe Galavis: a brand with the aroma of innovation

Learning outcomes Upon completion of the case study, the students will be able to analyze the brand equity construct through the associative neural network model for decision-making; identify prospective scenarios through the Delphi method for the construction of strategic plans in organizations; and propose the innovation of a product by applying creativity techniques to enter international markets. Case overview/synopsis Cafe Galavis was one of the leading family businesses in industrial development and had the highest business recognition, with a century of experience in producing and commercializing roasted and ground coffee in Cucuta, Colombia. In 2015, the diplomatic crisis between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela led to the indefinite closure of the Colombian–Venezuelan border, which caused an increase in income from smuggled coffee. In addition, the presence of different competitors and traditional brands negatively impacted the level of sales, which considerably affected financial stability. Likewise, internal difficulties of family nature and administrative management led to the change of senior management. By 2016, Juan Yáñez was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) and was in charge of avoiding the company’s closure. In January 2023, he received feedback from his consulting team, and upon evaluation of the new market challenges with his collaborators, he realized a great challenge that merited the search for a priority alternative solution. How to design a new product considering the loss of brand identity in the face of the generational change of its consumers? These were some of the challenges posed by the CEO that consequently required starting a strategic management process of innovation. Complexity academic level The teaching case is aimed at students of postgraduate academic programs in the areas of knowledge of innovation, product design, industrial design, marketing or MBA. In the modules of marketing, strategic management, brand management and strategic foresight, the case allowed for the orientation of the concepts of brand value or branding as well as the analysis of the value chain for the implementation of strategies that promote competitive advantages of companies. Similarly, in the modules of product or service design, creativity and innovation and complex thinking, the case allows one to approach a complex problem and apply creativity techniques for its solution. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS: 8 Marketing.

Qur’an burning in Norway: stop the Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) and far-right capture of free speech in a Scandinavian context

ABSTRACT Fringe political actors’ Qur’an desecrations in Scandinavia have over the past few years resulted in international media attention, diplomatic crises, calls for boycotts and pressures from Muslim states and organisations to criminalize such acts. This article explores the historical genealogies of Qur’an desecration – a transnational phenomenon – that emerged in the wake of the post-9/11 ‘Global War on Terror’. In Norway, public Qur’an burnings have been integral to the strategies of the far-right organization Stop the Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) since 2019. Inspired by Titley’s notion of far-right “free speech capture”, we demonstrate that Qur’an burning functions as a powerful symbolic means to incite hatred against Islam and Muslims in the name of “free speech”. We contend that Qur’an burning in the Norwegian context lies at the intersection between transnational and national flows and modalities of Islamophobia.

The Return of Crisis Diplomacy: Ukraine, Taiwan and Beyond

The Return of Crisis Diplomacy: Ukraine, Taiwan and Beyond