Diplomatic Mediation Research Articles

Regional security and the role of regional players

The article examines the importance and necessity of creating a new international organization designed to take on the role of ensuring regional security. As an example, the Astana process to resolve the Syrian crisis, which was created with the participation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, is considered. Thus, the countries demonstrated the ability to take responsibility for ensuring regional security in the conflict zone. Russia, Iran and Türkiye were able to develop specifi c ways to resolve this crisis situation. Using the experience of the Astana format, such major players as Russia, Türkiye and Iran could find ways to solve other international problems. And here they may be joined by another influential world power — China. The strength of the new international security architecture will depend on these states. China has long played an important role in maintaining global stability. And here we can note the special role of mediation diplomacy, which has recently become the most striking calling card of Chinese diplomacy. Thus, in March 2023, with the participation of China, a historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran took place. In light of the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli confl ict, China has published a position paper on a political solution to the crisis. The document off ers recommendations to resolve the problem, namely, a complete cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, provision of humanitarian assistance, strengthening diplomatic mediation and the search for a political settlement. The authors come to the conclusion that, taking into account the accumulated experience in fi nding ways to resolve acute regional conflicts, and by joining forces, Russia, China, Iran and Türkiye are able to create an international structure for resolving crisis situations, which will become a guarantor for ensuring international security and stability.

The language of diplomatic mediation – A case study of an emergency meeting in the wake of the Yugoslav wars

In this paper, we examine the language of diplomatic mediation from the perspective of speech acts and interaction, by studying an unofficial transcript of an emergency meeting in 1991 between representatives of the European Economic Community (EEC) and Slovenia and Croatia. We use a bottom-up methodology, bringing together ritual, speech acts and interaction, to capture recurrent conventions of diplomatic mediation in a strictly language-anchored fashion. The EEC representatives had a vested interest in swiftly resolving the conflict, and even before consulting with the Slovenian and Croatian representatives they already reached an initial agreement with the Yugoslav state representatives. Due to this fait accompli situation, we assume that they had to show particular awareness of the ritually ‘neutral’ tone of the mediator. Through our methodology we capture the replicable features of diplomatic mediation, and because of this our results are relevant for the study of the language of diplomacy.

“Pro arduis negociis destinandum” – Papal Delegates and the Neapolitan Succession (1328–1352)

The Neapolitan succession was one of the most problematic issues of Hungarian foreign policy in the Angevin period. As has been emphasized in the secondary literature, the Holy See, especially Pope John XXII (1316–1334) and Clement VI (1342–1352), played an active role in the negotiations between the Hungarian and the Neapolitan crowns. The diplomatic mediation of the papal court was carried out mainly by papal delegates with different types of authorizations. The primary aim of the present paper is to examine the details of these commissions and reveal who the clerics appointed by the Holy See to handle this delicate diplomatic matter were, what title they were given for the time of their delegations, and most importantly, what the outcomes of their commissions were. The paper focuses on the time when the papacy was most actively involved in the diplomatic events concerning the Neapolitan succession, namely from the death of Charles, duke of Calabria, the sole heir of Robert, king of Naples (1328), until the agreement of Joanna I and Louis I in 1352.

The formative years of Iran’s ‘jihadi field diplomacy’ in Azerbaijan

ABSTRACT This study examines the formative years of Iran’s so-called ‘jihadi field diplomacy’ toward Azerbaijan during and after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. To accomplish this, I adopt a novel version of neoclassical realism, which considers the socially constructed nature of variables. The application of constructivist neoclassical realism facilitates a deeper comprehension of the reasons and mechanisms behind Iran’s embrace of unconventional interventionist policies in Azerbaijan. I argue that Iran’s jihadi field diplomacy is characterized by two main features: the use of military tools to achieve foreign policy goals and a distinct leadership structure that operates independently of the government. Then I analyze three turning points that shaped Iran’s jihadi field diplomacy toward Azerbaijan. Firstly, after a failed diplomatic mediation between Yerevan and Baku in May 1992, Iran intensified its military and ideological efforts in Azerbaijan. Secondly, during the June 1993 coup, Iran supported pro-Russian coup leader Colonel Huseynov and sought to persuade him to collaborate with ex-Communist Aliyev against nationalist President Elchibey. Aliyev later perceived this initial cooperation as a serious ideological and military challenge. Lastly, the perceived threat and Iran’s Quds Force connections to the leaders of the subsequent military uprisings adversely affected bilateral relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

ROLE OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE MEDIATION BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN

This article analyses the role and influence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on diplomatic mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The paper examines the historical contradictions between the states, the prerequisites for diplomatic settlement and mediation by other states, and the importance of China’s involvement in the settlement process. In addition, the article discovers the impact of negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Middle East region and the positions and benefits of dialogue for all three states. The article also touches upon the role and place of mediation in China’s overall foreign policy strategy, and the potential for China’s participation in other diplomatic processes, including possible diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The efforts of the Ottomans to support the Moriscos in Andalusia During the tenth century AH / sixteenth century AD

This study, which is titled "Ottomans Efforts in Supporting the Moriscos", aims to know the Moriscos and their conditions, especially after the fall of Granada, and the motives that led to their expulsion from Spain, in addition to stating the position of the Ottoman Empire towards the Moriscos before the final decision of their expulsion from Spain was issued. This position is represented in the preparation of military campaigns to invade the southern Spanish coasts or offer diplomatic mediation with some European countries. Afterwards comes knowing the Ottoman position towards the Moriscos after implementing the final decision of expulsion and the Ottomans' efforts in facilitating their transfer to the countries of the Islamic Maghreb. The study is concluded by explaining several points, the key of which is the failure of the Spanish policy in implementing the Christianisation decision on the Muslims of Andalusia, despite the inhumane practices committed by the Inquisition against Muslims. With the deteriorating living conditions of the Moriscos, they found in the Ottoman Empire their safe haven and their only salvation from torture and murder. The Ottomans did not disappoint the Moriscos' hopes in them, but their efforts were unsuccessful due to external conspiracies and internal intrigues that limited the State's focus on the Moorish issue.

The diplomatic power of small states: Mongolia’s mediation on the Korean peninsula

ABSTRACT With its Ulaanbaatar Dialogues (UBD) initiatives, Mongolia has emerged as one of the most increasingly influential diplomatic powerhouses in northeast Asia, despite its small size. Moved by the mixed interests of garnering global influence and a small-state security strategy, the country has positioned itself as an honest neutral peace broker in the Korean conflict since 2013. Mongolia has demonstrated itself to be a successful third party in defusing tensions and, more crucially, jump-starting declining regional multilateral mechanisms for the Korean peace process. This study explores the undiscovered potential of small-state power. Mongolia shows how small states effectively increase their transnational appeal and expand their foreign policy reach through diplomatic mediation. This article examines the sources, strategies, and mechanisms of Mongolia’s mediation efforts, looking at the core features of Mongolian foreign policy and its diplomatic relations, and then focuses on the UBD initiatives – the country’s efforts as a third party to mediate the Korean Peninsula peace process. Thereby, this study contributes to the knowledge on the practice of international relations by reflecting on the burgeoning role of the Global South.

Turkey’s diplomatic mediation as means of positioning in new international circumstances

The ongoing crisis of the international order has opened up a series of serious questions about its far-reaching consequences, development perspectives, and possibilities of overcoming, as well as the trend of (re)positioning regional actors. Amid the Ukrainian conflict, special attention was drawn to Turkey?s attempts of diplomatic mediation. To better understand the strategic direction and current position of Turkey, the main intention of this article is aimed at clarifying the features, dimensions, and function of diplomatic mediation within its foreign policy. The first part of the article discusses the broader theoretical framework which analyses the features, dimensions, phases, and preconditions of diplomatic mediation. Thereafter, a concise presentation of the basic features of the complex state-national orientation of mediation is presented. Based on the initiated and accomplished mediation processes observed over a long period of time, in a wide area from the Balkans, the Middle East, to the Caucasus and Central Asia, the central part of the article discusses the essential characteristics, motives, goals, and function of diplomatic mediation within the framework of Turkey?s foreign policy. Based on the above, it can be concluded that diplomatic mediation is an important tactical and foreign policy tool for positioning Turkey in contemporary and emerging international circumstances.

Prophecy as Diplomacy in the Fifteenth-Century Mediterranean

Abstract Late medieval and early modern diplomats and intermediaries drew on the authoritative language of prophecy, a language that conveyed divine threats to the current order, or divine sanctions of a new world. Because apocalyptic discourse has the capacity to conjure affective associations through its redemptive potential, its use in a diplomatic context seems to have been aimed at shaping the way individuals perceived the issues at hand. Based on a number of case studies from both Christian and Islamic contexts, this contribution renders it clear that it was precisely these cultural and political commonalities that made prophecy a recognizable political and diplomatic discourse. As a totalizing religio-political discourse, prophecy articulated the aspirations of a multitude of competing universalizing imperial projects that were emerging in the fifteenth century, which required diplomatic mediation.

The Ambassador’s Report of Zakharia Meyer on the Trip to Moscow

The article contains a translation and an original text of the report of Ratmann of Lübeck, Zhachariah Meyer, about his diplomatic trips to Moscow in 1586–1587. The document is stored in the Archives of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck) and has not been published so far. On behalf of a magistrate of Lübeck Meyer visited the court of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich in Novgorod and Pskov. In the context of the transformation of the Hanseatic League, which took place in the second half of the 16th century, in order to retain the status of its head, Lübeck needed to take a leading position in the supply of Russian export products to the Western European market. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to reject commercial and diplomatic mediation of the Hanseatic cities of Livonia, which during the Livonian War fell under foreign rule, and carry out its own program set out in the pamphlet “Kürtzer Bericht…” of 1571. Meyer’s report, which includes the German text of the letters patent from Fyodor Ioannovich to Lübeck in 1586, the translations of the tsar`s letters to the governors of Novgorod and Pskov, and Meyer`s petitions, testifies to the successful start of this program. The report, among other things, contains information about situations in the trading courtyards of Novgorod and Pskov, in particular, about their relations with the city administration. Their lack of self-government and administrative dependence on the Russian authorities distinguished the Lübeck courtyards from the Hanseatic offices in their heyday.

Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process: Between Ideology and Political Realism

Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process: Between Ideology and Political Realism

Duality, Duel, Diplomacy: Aesthetics and Politics of Mediation in Arthur Schnitzler’sDer Weg ins Freie

The rise of anti-Semitism in conjunction with probing the possibilities of literary narratives makes literature itself a site of negotiation in late imperial Austria. This article reads Arthur Schnitzler’s first novel, Der Weg ins Freie ( The Road into the Open, 1908), as a text that shows authorial restraint by foregrounding constellations of duality, duels, and their diplomatic mediation, which fail frequently. In doing so, the essay outlines Schnitzler’s opposition to his contemporary Theodor Herzl’s stronger attempts at executing narrative authority. Three main configurations in Schnitzler’s novel are discussed: constellations between genres and opinions, between representation in art and politics ( Darstellen and Vertreten), and between voicing and silencing. At stake, therefore, are the narrative strategies employed in the production, representation, and reception of modern literature in times of crisis.

CRISIS OF TRADITIONAL FORMS OF DIPLOMACY AND SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICTS IN THE MODERN WORLD

The article is devoted to the problem of forming new international mechanisms and formats for preventing, managing and resolving conflicts in the modern world. The need to change the approaches of the international community to the issues of control over international violence is caused both by changes that take place in the system of international relations (connected the globalization, the growing interdependence of international relations actors), and changes in the very nature of conflicts in the modern world, their transnationalization, change in the nature of participants, formats and methods of conflict behavior). There has been specified an increase in the inefficiency of traditional mediation diplomacy and the failure of the international community to quickly and effectively take control of organized violence, relying solely on the traditional formats of diplomatic conflict resolution. Key words : transnationalization of international conflicts; hybrid war (new wars); diplomatic mediation; conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina; conflict in Kosovo; UN; NATO.

Chinese and Korean Researchers on Diplomatic Mediation of China in the North Korea Nuclear Issue

Background/Objectives: The study describes the role of China as a diplomatic mediator in the six-party talks. The objective is to show how China deals with North Korean dispute employing preventive diplomacy. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The study of Chinese mediation in solving North Korean nuclear issue called for applying various methods of political science. The method of systemic analysis helps analyzing the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, illustrated in the publications of foreign authors. The method of statistical analysis was used to systematize data and to comprehend Chinese diplomatic actions focused on maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula. Findings: There is ever growing division of opinions on how to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The results of the study made it possible to identify the fact that China opposes the use of force and military means to resolve the conflict on the peninsula. The Chinese government reaffirms that sanctions and military means are not effective solutions, but only exacerbate the situation. The authors of the study believe that Chinese diplomats and the government support effective dialogue on the objectives of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and consider it an effective way to solve the nuclear issue, notwithstanding a series of nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches over recent years. Chinese experts believe that after the end of the Cold War, diplomatic mediation has become an important element in the international practice of conflict prevention and resolution. Application/Improvements: Chinese officials support peaceful diplomatic solutions. Improvements should be focused on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a truce-to-peace mechanism should be pursued to resolve the concerns of all parties.

Strategic maneuvering in diplomatic mediation

In diplomatic mediation, dissociation and definitions become tools of the mediator’s strategic maneuvering by means of which the disputants’ disagreement space is minimized, decision-making being thus facilitated. The mediator’s argumentative behavior is explored, investigating the way in which he succeeds in “maintaining a delicate balance” (van Eemeren and Houtlosser 2002) between the dialectical and the rhetorical aims in accordance with the institutional aim specific to mediation as an activity type. In order to argue reasonably and efficiently, the mediator assumes certain roles and adopts and develops a set of strategies in compliance with the goal and constraints of the particular activity type he argues within. Consequently, the mediator builds his argumentation case in full awareness of the specific circumstances, and of the types of constraints of the case, by making a pertinent choice from the topical potential, adjusting it to the particular audience, and exploiting the range of presentational devices accordingly.

The Challenge of Burden-Sharing

Historically associated with transatlantic discords about Atlantic alliance, burden-sharing is a term that comes and goes on policy agenda.1 Last year, Robert Gates made headlines when he chastised most of his European counterparts for not shouldering enough of burden in NATO -led operation in Libya. Evoking spectre of a two-tiered made up of those willing and able to pay price and bear burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy benefits of NATO membership... but don't want to share risks and costs, outgoing US defence secretary warned, [t]he blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in US congress - and in American body politic writ large - to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote necessary resources or make necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.2 A few months earlier, Gates had made similar comments, this time about what he saw as Europeans' over-eagerness to pull out of Afghanistan, where their troops make up less than a third of total forces deployed. In a way, Gates had a point. In last io years, US's share of total NATO spending has indeed jumped from 50 percent to 75 percent, in no small part because of America's own formidable increase in military expenditures after 11 September 2001.Accusations of free-riding have marred transatlantic relations ever since creation of Atlantic alliance in 1949. Then as now, rhetoric of burden- sharing has served as a useful rhetorical weapon to blame those who were seen as not contributing enough to cause. Each time, however, Washington's call has fallen on deaf ears, at least in public. In private, European and Canadian officials highlight other contributions they they are to NATO operations, for example in shape of development aid or considerable troop casualties in Afghanistan. They mention UN peacekeeping missions, such as in Lebanon, where US is not involved. Cynics admit that they never really bought much into military adventures into which US threw them, and that US itself did not seem to believe much in Libya mission. The reality, French foreign minister Alain Juppe retorted to Gates, is that it is Europeans who think Americans aren't enough.3The evolution of transatlantic debate suggests two things. First, burden-sharing is about more than NATO. One cannot just look at defence spending at a time when humanitarian aid, diplomatic mediation, and fight against climate change can all be considered contributions of a sort to collective security.4 Disentangling what counts as a contribution to which public good is no easy thing. Second, burden-sharing is a contested political concept. Statesmen and diplomats do not speak abstract language of public choice, with its non-excludable and non-rival goods. Rather, they talk about being fair, doing what you can, and making a real contribution. In other words, they speak normative language of justice rather than utilitarian language of economics.Rather than attempting to prove who's right and who's wrong, our research agenda is to reconstruct practical logic of claims that bedevil global governance. Our starting point is that we have to understand logic of burden- sharing a lot better before we start pointing fingers at other countries and congratulating our own. In our ongoing project, we look at how government elites construe good of collective security, different contribution strategies that they develop, and domestic and international constraints and opportunities that they face in implementing such strategies. We address each of these issues in turn.WHAT IS GOOD?The first question that comes to mind is how to define the In a broad sense, international security is assumed to be a collective good. …

Small state soft power strategies: virtual enlargement in the cases of the Vatican City State and Singapore

The concept of soft power, or symbolic power, offers unexplored potential for analysing small state power. This article argues that it is a means of virtual enlargement of small states' foreign policy reach and presence. If one examines the bases of soft power, it becomes evident that small states can utilize their political economy potential, models of good governance and diplomatic mediation as forms of power that defy their territorial limitations. Case studies of the Vatican City State and Singapore illustrate ‘small state soft power’.

Diplomatic Mediation as an Independent Variable

Successful third-party diplomatic mediation illustrates diplomacy as a causative, independent element in world politics. This article asks how mediators forge agreement between force-prone, deadlocked parties in intractable diplomatic conflict, and why some such conflicts are more difficult to mediate than others. It compares three interstate and three intrastate mediation cases, each probed as a deviant episode, and tests the conventional view that intrastate conflict presents the more difficult mediation challenge. Confirming that intrastate conflict is more difficult to mediate than its interstate counterpart, the study narrows and refines the sources of the added difficulty.

The Combative Text: Ronsard’s Poetics of Dissent (1562–1563)

In his introduction to Ronsard's political poetry of 1562-63, Paul Laumonier asks why France's most prominent court poet turned from pacificism to military propaganda at that point in his writing career. The anti-Protestant Discours des miseres de ce temps, Remonstrance au peuple de France, and Responce aux injures were all sparked by deeply personal interests, Laumonier argues. That is, in these poems Ronsard was defending his right to request and to receive material rewards from the Church in spite of mounting criticism by Protestants and reform-minded Catholics. The poet was also expressing the personal pain he had experienced upon witnessing and failing to prevent lootings and pillaging of Catholic churches in his native region. Such destruction was all the more unbearable for having been committed not only by heretic Frenchmen but by foreign mercenaries. (1) The dual menace of heresy and foreign influence (inevitably linked to Ancient and New World heathenism, in the sixteenth century) is what I propose to address in this essay. How does Ronsard's construction of the personal in his political poems articulate the poet's attachment to the past (regional nostalgia, greco-toman literary models) and his commitment to the future (promotion of the vernacular and of royal authority)? What role do foreign invaders play in the elaboration of Ronsard's textual persona? One may indeed read the political poems written by Ronsard between 1560 and 1563 as increasingly personal in nature. In the years immediately preceding the French wars of religion Ronsard had argued against armed conflict. His Elegie a G. des Autels, written in 1560, discouraged a policy of military action against Protestants, arguing instead in favor of diplomatic mediation. In 1562, however, the elegy was reprinted bearing textual additions in which Ronsard urged armed resistance against the Huguenot factions. The poet's political about-face becomes clear if one compares the two versions directly: (2) (1560) Ce n'est pas aujourd'huy que les Rois & les princes Ont besoing de garder par armes leurs provinces, Il ne faut acheter ny canons ny harnois, Mais il fault les garder seulement par la voix Car il fault desormais deffendre noz maisons, Non par le fer trenchant mais par vives raisons, Et courageusement noz ennemis abbatre Par les mesmes bastons dont ils nous veullent battre Ainsi que l'ennemy par livres a seduict Le peuple devoye qui faucement le suit, Il fault en disputant par livres le confondre, Par livres l'assaillir, par livres luy respondre (9-22) (1562). C'est donques aujourd'huy que les Roys & les Princes Ont besoin de garder par armes leurs provinces, Et contre leurs sujets opposer le harnois, Usant & de la force & de la douce voix, Car il faut desormais deffendre nos maisons, Et par le fer tranchant, et par vives raisons Et courageusement nos ennemis abbatre Par les mesmes bastons dont ils nous veullent battre. Ainsi que l'ennemy par livres a deduict Le peuple devoye qui faucement le suit, Il faut en disputant par livres le confondre, Par armes l'assaillir, par armes luy respondre (9-22) In 1562 and 1563, Ronsard's poetry is increasingly engage, that is, more overtly engaged with political issues of the day and more representative of the poet's personal concerns. For a court poet to write about current civil unrest was of course, in some measure, obligatory. His duty, in part, was to represent the interests of the monarchy. (3) A poet of renown such as Ronsard would bring all the rhetorical arsenal of the classical canon to bear on such an endeavor. Recent criticism of the Discours des miseres collection has focused on the diversity of oratorical registers deployed in these poems. (4) Ullrich Langer has argued that Ronsard's rhetorical construction of an Aristotelian/Ciceronian ethos, or ethical subjectivity in his political verse, helps the poet confront a national moral crisis as well as a precarious moment in his literary career. …