Diplomatic Agency Research Articles

Gendering Zoom Diplomacy: Women’s Participation in Digital Diplomacy

Abstract In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent emergence of “Zoom diplomacy,” scholarship on digital diplomacy has shifted attention from the nexus between social media and foreign policy to exploring the use of digital technologies in diplomatic encounters. While these studies have generated important insights on the affordances and limitations of digital diplomacy, we know much less about the impact of digitalization on the gendered hierarchies and power dynamics that characterize diplomatic practices. In what ways does digitalization of diplomacy shape these hierarchical and gendered practices of diplomacy? In taking stock of recent empirical findings on digital diplomacy, the analysis reviews the varied effects of digitalization on women’s diplomatic agency. Focusing on peace diplomacy, it suggests that digitalization of diplomacy produces ambivalent agency where digitalization opens up some opportunities for disrupting gendered diplomatic practices, but within patriarchal gender structures. The analysis highlights the ways in which digital diplomatic agency and competence are shaped by gendered material and normative structures, suggesting that on the borders of what is conventionally regarded as diplomacy, digitalization may be reinforcing diplomacy as a masculine practice.

Memory Fusion, Diplomatic Agency, and Armenian Genocide Recognition in the Czech Republic

Abstract Scholars often emphasize how right-wing political actors in Europe use memory laws to undermine democratic traditions and revise historical accounts. But a broad range of political actors (with diverse motivations) support memory laws. Synthesizing research in international political sociology and memory politics, this analysis examines the relational and social practices of diplomats from small states and the creative strategies of center-left political insiders in the creation and passage of memory laws. Based on data collected in the Czech Republic, the article investigates how relational and social dynamics, in part, inspired members of parliament (from the Czech Social Democratic Party) to insert Armenian Genocide recognition into memory laws about the Holocaust and Second World War in the Chamber of Deputies (2017) and the Senate (2020) – a strategy I refer to as memory fusion. In developing the framework of memory fusion, however, the findings also explore how Turkish diplomats use a similar strategy to pursue their own goals.

Перспективы развития экономических отношений России и Болгарии в начале ХХ в.: взгляд российских дипломатов

Introduction. The article is devoted to the history of relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The two states were interested in joint trade and economic development. This issue received a lot of attention in Russian periodicals. The press pointed out great benefits from the economic relations of the two states. Bulgaria at this time was a country with a rapidly developing economy. This state aroused the interest of many European powers. Diplomatic missions occupied the main place in assessing the possibilities of Russian penetration into Bulgaria. Materials and methods. The sources of the article are related to diplomatic materials from the beginning of the 20th century: reports of secretaries of the diplomatic agency in Sofia, reports of the vice-consul in Bulgaria, diaries and memoirs. The main focus is on assessing trading opportunities. When analyzing sources, the author used traditional methods of objectivity and a critical approach, taking into account the subjective nature of these materials. Results. Diplomats believed that Russian commercial and industrial circles, given the rapid development of the domestic market, showed little interest in Bulgaria. Russian entrepreneurs did not have a clear idea of the needs of the Bulgarian consumer, of the Bulgarian companies with which they could conduct trade operations, or of their creditworthiness. Unlike representatives of other countries, especially Austria-Hungary, Russian business made no efforts to develop trade with the Bulgarians. Russian entrepreneurs did not have their own traveling salesmen who traveled around Bulgaria studying the demand of the local population. Interest in Bulgaria was weak because Russian business was associated with domestic economic development. All this had a very negative impact on the development of bilateral trade. Conclusion. In the current conditions, it was not Russia, but Austria-Hungary that played the main role in the development of the Bulgarian economy. This also determined the political sympathies of the Bulgarian authorities. St. Petersburg understood this problem. However, political complications on the peninsula and the outbreak of the First World War did not allow this creative work to be completed, which could have led to a significant increase in the volume of economic relations between Russia and Bulgaria.

The osce and the Minsk Process for Ukraine

Abstract The article aims to shed light on how international organisations are transformed through creative diplomatic agency. Mobilising the theoretical tools of pragmatist sociology, and taking the empirical example of the osce and its involvement in the management of the crisis in Ukraine between late 2013 and early 2022, the study shows how diplomats, international civil servants, politicians and other actors, related to the Organisation, seize the international issues, define problems, propose and negotiate solutions, and put them in practice within a dynamic process, through which the role and identity of the Organization itself is transformed. Practices understood as deliberative processes of recombining institutional resources in novel ways, underscore the change which is not necessarily strategic, nor can be placed in causal sequences, but is always creative, and unpredictable.

Science Diplomacy's Contribution to and Exploitation of International Relations

Science diplomacy is a novel academic concept. This project will analyse the positive function of science diplomacy in contemporary international relations and the use of science to achieve specific foreign policy objectives. This study aims to provide insight into the role of this science in external affairs work which analyses the impact of science diplomacy through a collection of journals, papers, news articles, and literature with the use of Document analysis. Even countries with mutually antagonistic political cultures may be able to approach international issues through concentrated scientific study due to the function of science diplomacy. Using the significance of science, the foreign service can influence or even meddle in the affairs of other nations. Therefore, scientific study diplomacy permits beneficial interactions between nations and the involvement of technologically and technologically powerful countries. The selection of science diplomacy is determined by the objectives of governments and diplomatic agencies.

The Diplomatic Agency of the Russian Empire in Mukden (1901-1904) and the Work of Diplomat S.A. Kolokolov

The Diplomatic Agency of the Russian Empire in Mukden (1901-1904) and the Work of Diplomat S.A. Kolokolov

Paul Choart de Buzanval: A Learned French Ambassador and the Republic of Letters

Abstract Although he enjoys some renown as a friend of Joseph Scaliger and Isaac Casaubon, Henri iv’s ambassador to the United Provinces, Paul Choart de Buzanval (1551–1607) has rarely been studied in his own right since the 1960s. Yet Choart was a significant champion of the protestant cause, who built a network of contacts spread across Europe, from Venice over Germany to England. This article assesses, first, how Buzanval’s network grew as his career evolved during the final decades of the French Wars of Religion and their immediate aftermath. Secondly, it takes stock of Buzanval’s role as an early modern emissary abroad: it demonstrates how, over and above his diplomatic agency for Henri de Navarre/Henri iv, Buzanval also emerged as a patron and cultural intermediary with the – mostly protestant – Republic of Letters. Thus, from relatively modest beginnings, Buzanval became a notable player in a network that encompassed political as well as intellectual and merchant spheres.

The US Southern Command and the Militarization of US-Latin America Foreign Relations

This proposal aims to analyze the militarization of US-Latin America foreign relations by discussing the role played by the U.S. Southern Command in the implementation of U.S. foreign policy for the region in the aftermath of the September 11th 2001 attacks. Since the last decades of Cold War, civilian and diplomatic agencies stationed in the region, notably the State Department and the USAID, suffered budgetary constraints that were aggravated at the beginning of the Global War on Terror. For instance, in Latin America, the Southcom has been adapted to perform the so called “military missions other than war,” including non-military functions such as the provision of humanitarian assistance, law enforcement, and the management of security assistance programs aimed to dismantle drug trafficking networks. As we intend to argue, the overreliance on security and military means reflects the militarized character of U.S. influence in the region and has impacts on how the local coercive systems are organized and deployed by the domestic political elites. By analyzing the annual posture statements and the initiatives conducted in the field by the Southcom, between 2001 and 2021, we hope to clarify how the violence structures from abroad are connected to those from within.

Diplomatic Agency of the Russian Empire in Mukden in 1901-1904 and Activities of the Diplomat S.A. Kolokolov

At the end of the nineteenth century, Tsarist Russia's foreign policy in the Far East, particularly in China, became considerably more active. One of the main regions of China within the sphere of interest of the Russian Empire was the so-called «Three Eastern Provinces» (Manchuria), where the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) was laid and the Kwantung Province of the Russian Empire was established. In 1900, the Russian armed forces, led by Admiral E.I. Alexeyev, were forced to temporarily occupy the entire territory of Manchuria in order to suppress an uprising organized by followers of the anti-foreign Yihetuan movement, also known as the Boxer Rebellion. This included the then capital of one of the Three Eastern Provinces, Fengtian Province, the city of Mukden. The importance of Mukden as an administrative and business center and one of the largest railway stations on the CER line made the presence of an official representative of the Tsarist authorities in the city necessary. As the Boxer Rebellion was suppressed, a growing number of diverse firms and trading enterprises began to appear in the region, and foreign powers sought to expand their presence here. In 1901, Sergey Aleksandrovich Kolokolov (1868-1921), then secretary of the Russian consulate in Kashgar and graduate of the Faculty of Oriental Languages at St. Petersburg University, was appointed as diplomatic agent of the Russian Empire in Mukden. He served at this post in Mukden until the beginning of hostilities between Russia and Japan in 1904. S.A. Kolokolov was one of those diplomatic personnel in China at the turn of the 19th — 20th centuries who, thanks to their personal professionalism and loyalty to their work, ensured the safety of Russian interests in the region. This article gives the first detailed look at key aspects of the Russian diplomatic agency in Mukden.

“Kingdom-Building” through Global Diplomatic and Interfaith Agency: The Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and Unificationist Millenarianism

The Universal Peace Federation or UPF is a United Nations-affiliated NGO launched in 2005 by the late Mun Sŏn-myŏng, self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the South Korean Unification Movement. Mun considered the UPF as the pinnacle of Unificationist political and interfaith engagement. Envisioned as a complement to and, eventually, a future replacement of the United Nations, the globally operating UPF spearheads Unificationist millenarianism. This paper first traces the formation history and genesis of the UPF as a merger of decades-long international political and interfaith activities under the banner of multiple Unificationist organisations and initiatives. Subsequently, it examines the Korea-centric millenarian purpose assigned to the UPF by Mun. It is ultimately argued that embracing globalism is not only doctrinally crucial to Unificationist millenarianism, but systemically relevant.

The Beginning of Bulgaria-Iran Inter-state Relations: Facts and Challenges

Cultural bonds between the peoples of Bulgaria and Iran have been vibrant throughout the ages but it was not until Bulgaria’s Liberation from the Ottoman rule in 1878 that we can talk about inter-state relations. This article reveals the main bilateral developments in their initial 25-year period, challenging some existing assumptions. The establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1897 is correlated with the launching of official contacts between both heads of state much earlier. Iranian consular presence in the Principality of Bulgaria, directed by Iran’s Embassy in Constantinople, had a fairly long record but lacked consistency. Consular cases provoked disputes over the rights and privileges of Iranian subjects residing in Bulgaria and an attempt to solve them by a mutual arrangement. The first Iranian diplomatic agency in Sofia functioned in 1898-1902 and contributed to the preparation of the historic visit of Iranian monarch Mozaffar ed-Din Shah to Bulgaria in September 1900.

Africa, the International Criminal Court and the Law-Diplomacy Nexus

Summary The pioneering diplomatic role of African states in the establishment of the ICC, with its unprecedented legal mandate, was a triumph for a continent with a recent history of legal — diplomatic subjugation. However, the Court’s perceived Afro-centric bias since its inception, contradiction of sovereign immunity custom, and blatant manipulation by the UN Security Council has prompted the African Union to recommend en masse withdrawal. By contrast, this article makes the case that the continent, rather than being a victim of selective, politicised justice, has capitalised on its ICC membership. The Court has become ‘Africanised’ in its substantive specialisation, its executive profile has assumed an African identity and Africa’s penchant for collective diplomacy is facilitated by quantitative advantage in ICC membership. Maximising its diplomatic agency and using the ICC’s principle of complementarity, Africa now has a unique opportunity to insert itself instrumentally at the law — diplomacy nexus in international relations.

Old World Homecomings: Campaigns of Ancestral Tourism and Cultural Diplomacy, 1945–66

This article examines the history of ancestral tourism and its development as a form of cultural diplomacy between 1945 and 1966. The phenomenon often referred to as ‘roots tourism’ has during the last decades increased in popularity, especially in Old World countries that historically have sent large numbers of people to North America. While previous scholarship has focused on its existential dimensions and its relation to the twenty-first century tourism and heritage economies, this article looks at how ancestral tourism grew out of European attempts at expanding the tourism industry after 1945. It studies the international spread of ‘person-to-person’ programs that sought to turn travelers into ‘ambassadors’, and the subsequent transformation of such initiatives into ‘homecoming’ campaigns through notions of co-descent, targeting Americans of European descent. By exploring the case of the 1966 Homecoming Year campaign in Sweden, the article shows that the attraction of ancestral tourism was grounded in its ability to combine economic and political incentives articulated in the Marshall Plan. It developed out of a liberal-democratic ideology that vested individual travelers with diplomatic agency. In the process, European tourist agencies calcified the notion that ancestral tourism served not only individual experiences, but also national economies and international relations.

Reputation on the (green) line: revisiting the ‘Plaza moment’ in United Nations peacekeeping practice, 1964–1966

AbstractAppointing a United Nations (UN) mediator to work in tandem with the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in March 1964 led to fundamental shifts in how the UN Secretariat inner circle orientated the organisation’s presence in Cyprus. The escalating crisis between the two communities in Cyprus and political pressure from UN member states to respond before Cold War superpower nations became engulfed, prompted the creation of UNFICYP and the recruitment of a UN mediator on 4 March 1964. This article argues that the UN leadership intended to restore member state trust following the controversial Congo mission (ONUC) and expand the organisation’s diplomatic agency through the innovation of deploying the dedicated mediator alongside the armed mission. However, the success of the meditator was diplomatically limited by the localised dynamics of the Cyprus conflict and the willingness of the Guarantor parties to surrender their sovereign imaginaries of post-colonial Cyprus. Ultimately, the experiment in field-based mediation forced the UN Secretariat leadership to acknowledge the incompatibility of appeasing all member states on one hand whilst leading field-based political negotiations with the other.

Framing the Islands: Power and Diplomatic Agency in Pacific Regionalism by Greg Fry

Framing the Islands: Power and Diplomatic Agency in Pacific Regionalism by Greg Fry

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in promoting Peace and Economic Development

Change is a fundamental human right. Without apparent change, nations struggle to advance economically. Change for peace to prevail is a contemplated philosophy from reality when sectors that stir peace are misaligned. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are the relevant third sector, yet the treatment of civil society by the first sector - the public sector - is indifferent. This study justifies civil society role in promoting peace and economic development. Counting diplomatic missions and multilateral agencies part in stirring peace and development, it recommends, collaborative, harmonious exchanges and relationships within the three sectors – public, private and the civil society – for the sake of proper peace and economic development for the wellbeing of citizens and nations. The study examined 41 individuals with familiarities in civil society were sampled. One-Way ANOVA technique was employed to test the hypotheses. The test results show significant associations between: economic advancement and peace; and CSOs actions in peace promotion and economic enhancement.

Diplomats as Poets, Poets as Diplomats. Poetic Gifts and Literary Reflections on the Dutch Mediations between Poland-Lithuania and Sweden in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century

This article examines two Dutch diplomatic missions, in 1627–28 and 1635, by which the United Provinces intervened in a Polish-Swedish armed conflict in Prussia. The focus is on ‘diplomatic poetics’: the ways in which literature functioned within diplomatic practice, and how that practice (or the ‘diplomatic moment’) was in turn envisioned in literature. The Polish-Swedish conflict was of great interest to the United Provinces, and was elaborately discussed in various Dutch media, as well as in the correspondences of merchants and politicians. The Dutch embassies to Polish territories themselves, meanwhile, inspired a number of literary works, published mostly in the Republic, but also in for example Danzig and Konigsberg. These sources demonstrate how early modern literary and diplomatic practices in Europe overlapped and influenced each other. Firstly, German, French and Dutch poems by Johannes Plavius, Simon van Beaumont and Joost van den Vondel illustrate the blurring of the lines between the realms of diplomacy and literature. Poems could function as diplomatic gifts, enabling both personal, intellectual communication and the widespread transmission of political messages. Moreover, Latin and German plays by Johannes Narssius and Simon Dach, and more importantly Latin poems by Simon van Beaumont and Caspar Barlaeus, as well as an illustrated Dutch account of the first mission by Abraham Booth, reveal that the Dutch envoys featured in literary narratives as both wise peace bringers and travelling poets, and their missions to Poland as both arduous ordeals and epic adventures. Much like poetic gifts, these literary reflections on ‘the diplomatic moment’ had public diplomatic agency, simultaneously voicing political opinions and crafting artistic images of the diplomats themselves.

Azienda Ospedaliera “Pia Fondazione di Culto e Religione.«Cardinale Giovanni Panico»” di Tricase (Italia)

The article presents history of “Cardinale Giovanni Pani­co” the hospital which was transformed into Hospital-Cor­poration “Pia fondazione di culto e religione ‘Cardinale Giovanni Panico’” in Tricase, Italy. The Hospital Corporation arose from the Vatican diplomat Giovanniego Panico’s idea and initiative. The activity of the International Institute of Sisters Marcellin (Istituto Internazionale delle Suore Marcel­line) led to its actual functioning and constant development with continual help of suitable church and secular authorities. The future cardinal was sensitive to people’s suffering and lack of suitable health care; his work in many diplomatic agencies in different countries, usually poor and neglected, led to the idea of opening a small hospital in his hometown. The article is an attempt to show in an chronological order history and achievements of one of many Italian hospital corporations. However, the presented institution deserves special attention. The text shows how the private nursing home brought to life in 1963 (casa di cura privata) developed into an important Hospital Corporation in Italy which is defined as the only hospital-medical consortium classified as religious (ospedale religioso classificato). In the article the author does not only present mentioned chronology and achievements of the powerful medical facility, but also the role and need of transplanting on the ground of medical care catholic values as those which help to come back to physical health. The author also presents educational values of suffering in the Christian point of view.

'The Pope's own hand outstretched': Holy See diplomacy as a hybrid mode of diplomatic agency.

The unconventional nature of Holy See diplomats rests in the composite character of their ecclesiastical role as the Pope’s representatives and their legal diplomatic status and commencement to ordinary diplomatic practice. Holy See diplomacy is a form of conduct created by a set of mixed secular and religious standards in which agents are guided by practices. I locate this argument within a classical English School and a conventional understanding of practice, diplomacy, and agency while incorporating understandings of the diplomat as a stranger. The article situates a Holy See diplomat’s mode of agency as a hybrid one by nature, located at the intersections of political and religious modes of agency and substantial and relational conceptions of international politics. I probe this conceptual framework of hybrid agency by analysing episodes involving papal diplomats in turmoil-ridden historical episodes, and correspondence with informed agents.

Interpersonal approaches to relationship building: diplomat as a human agent of public diplomacy

In extant literature it has been advised that the central purpose of public diplomacy should be redefined as relationship management. Against this backdrop, the effects of engagement efforts made to build and nurture relationships has been contested. On one hand, relationship management is presented as an approach to promote mutual understanding while, on the other, research studies show that diplomatic agencies remain focused on advocacy and that foreign publics are unwilling to engage. As public relations research has identified the positive effects of using interpersonal approaches to build and nurture relationships, this study conducted a case analysis on the engagement efforts made by a diplomat to build relationships. It was found that relationships were built with multiple publics both locally and globally and that offline relationships preceded online relationships. In relating to foreign publics, relational capabilities, including relational continuation, relational attentiveness, relational curiosity and relational empathy, were portrayed. Although shared values and interactions were promoted, foreign publics were only invited to engage on soft topics, such as cultural and social issues.