subject: Development of diplomacy [print this page] Development of diplomacy Development of diplomacy
OLD DIPLOMACY
The congress of Vienna of 1814-1815 provided an opportunity for the revision and regulation of established diplomatic practices. And from then until the outbreak of the First World War, five or six great powers dominated the affairs of the continent.
During the years between the world wars ex -ambassadors were inclined to look back upon what seemed like the golden age of the career diplomat. The 19th century did indeed witness the gradual professionalization of diplomacy. The emergence of the modern state with its centralized and complex bureaucratic structures led to the creation of foreign services with regular career patterns and rules governing such matters as recruitment, education, propmotion, retirement, pay and pensions. The distinction between those who determined and those who executed foreign policy was often blurred, and the duties of home based officials were more usually clerical than advisory. But the standards set by governments for admission to the profession, and its aristocratic ethos ensured that diplomacy retained at least the aura of a socially exclusive occupation.
The old diplomacy had also to adjust to technological advances and changes in economic, political and social circumstances. Railways ,steamships and electric telegraphy revolutionalized communications; the commercial and financial problems of industrializing societies helped define policy objectives; and relations amongst the powers were increasingly affected by developments in Africa and asia.Diplomacy remained,however,a function of the states system it served, and during the post-Napoleonic era its form and procedures were in part determined by the readiness of statesmen to subscribe to the notion of a concert of Europe (Hamilton &Langhorne,1995,pg 89).
DIPLOMACY IN TRANSITION
The outbreak of the 1st world war brought an end to 43 years of peace amongst the great powers of Europe. They were the years in which European nations had become more aware of their interdependence, particularly in the economic, social and technological spheres. Neither governments nor diplomats had been slow to grasp the meaning of this development. In 1914 the British ambassador at Vienna recommended that his government should appoint attaches or secretaries whose special duty it would be to watch labor questions or social questions. Participants in the socialist second international advocated world revolution as a solution to the problem of world peace. But supporters of organizations such as the interparliamentary union and the universal peace congress, both of which were founded in 1889,adopted essentially legalistic approaches to the resolution of conflict, and advocated the greater use of arbitration and mediation, along with arms limitation and disarmament.
DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN DIPLOMACY
In discussing the development of diplomacy an overview of the period will help initially to give some perspective in which to consider certain of the major changes which have taken place. Harold Nicolson's analysis, written in 1961 in Foreign Affairs on the theme diplomacy then and now', is colored especially by the impact of the cold war, the intrusion of ideological conflict into diplomacy and its effect on explanation, and the transformation from small international elite in old-style diplomacy to a new or democratic conception of international relations requiring public explanation and open diplomacy despite its growing complexity. Another striking change for Nicolson was in values especially in the loss of relations based on the creation of confidence and the acquisition of credit(Barston,1997,pg 2-3).
PROCESS MODERN DIPLOMACY
The continued expansion of the international community after 1945 has been one of the major factors shaping a number of features of modern diplomacy. The diplomatic community of some states which fashioned the new post-war institutions such as the (UN, International Monetary fund and the general agreement on tariffs and trade) had tripled less than a quarter a century later. A third phase of expansion occurred after 1989 with the breakup of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The expansion in membership has affected diplomatic styles and altered the balance of voting power within the UN general assembly. The growth in the number of states, and hence the interests and perspectives, has continuously fashioned the agenda of issues addressed by the assembly and led to the emergence of UN conference management styles; lobbying and corridor diplomacy. Other features such as institutionalization within the UN of the G-77, has also had a significant influence on the development of the way in which diplomacy is conducted within the UN.
Another important effect of expanded membership has been on the entry into force conventions. For example, the entry into force of the 1982 law of the sea convention was triggered by smaller members of UN such as Honduras without ratification or accession at the time by the major powers.
The continued development of regional multilateral diplomacy further distinguishes diplomacy from the 1960s onwards. Most regional groupings are economically based institutions like the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which has remained essentially concerned in its diplomacy with economic issues rather than expand into defense during the cold war period. The end of the cold war by 1990-1991 created opportunities for the extension of ASEAN's regional diplomacy vs. other South-East states (Barston, 1997, p.3)
