The new diplomacy: what in your opinion is the most important aspect of the new diplomacy? Explain your reasons.

Contemporary diplomacy is a diverse network of negotiations and communications between states and non-state actors. It still maintains traditional features like secrecy and bilateral diplomacy as essential foundation, however, since the world has become more globalised in different aspects, there is a necessity of global solutions to deal with the increasing number of global issues. Therefore, the most important aspect of the new diplomacy is the emergence of multilateral and conference diplomacy. The evolution of technology and communication in diplomacy, the growing number of international organisations and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), development of public diplomacy and global concerns on security and environmental issues, all these factors have reflected the importance of multilateral diplomacy in world politics. This entry will provide the main reasons in order to explain why the new diplomacy would be ineffective without multilateral diplomacy.

Typical models of multilateral and conference diplomacy are international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or the  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). All these organisations have a large membership and significant influence on the international relations. Each of them aim for different objectives, for instance, the UN aims to maintain international peace and security, the EU to peace and prosperity for their citizens while the WTO seeks to support international development. However, they share a common viewpoint on multilateral diplomacy as an effective device to pursue their goals. Multilateral diplomacy through multinational conferences and negotiations offer states better conditions to achieve agreements on issues that require a global participation. States benefit from multilateral diplomacy in various aspects as they can participate in pooling international information which might be related to their domestic affairs, through the joint management of resources they can then find an effective method to pursue their own objective. States can also influence the behaviour of other states or obtain mutually beneficial agreements through the multilateral system (Walker, 2004, pp. 16-18). On the other hand, multilateral conferences offer occasion for states which have no diplomatic relationships or conflicts with each other to meet up and discuss solutions for their bilateral affairs beyond the initial particular issue of the conference. In international conferences of the UN, EU and WTO, member states have equal votes which provide opportunities for developing states or states with less significant political position to express their viewpoints on global affairs.

Furthermore, non-state actors like NGOs also play an important role in multilateral diplomacy and have contributed considerably to the development and solutions of certain global issues, such as environmental and human rights issues. In contrast to states, which are the main decision-making bodies, NGOs often do not have the formal voting authority in international conferences. However, NGOs can effectively engage in international affairs and shape the negotiations process by lobbying the state, providing information or helping in drafting the decisions. Take the Kyotol Protocol negotiations on global climate change as an example. Environmental NGOs "were successful in achieving their goals by working behind the scenes to raise concerns about issues and influence the positions of key states" (Betsill and Corell, 2008, p.12). In other words, the involvement and contribution of NGOs in multilateral diplomacy is undoubtedly necessary, as their particular concerns on environmental or human rights issues are useful in order to reach a global solution to these problems. Despite the fact that NGOs might not have the diplomatic authority in international negotiations, they are an essential part of the multilateral diplomacy.

In conclusion, the increasing number of global issues that require multinational negotiations, has made multilateral and conference diplomacy the most important factor of contemporary diplomacy. Multilateral diplomacy is significant as it contains within itself other fundamental elements of the new diplomacy, such as diplomatic negotiations or public diplomacy. In general it has strengthened the relationships among states as well as their collaborations with nongovernmental organisations.

Bibliography:

Betsill, M. M. and Corell, E. (ed.) (2008), NGO Diplomacy: The Influence if Nongovernmental Organisations in International Environmental Negotiations, The MIT Press, USA.

Leguey-Feilleux, J. R. (2009), The Dynamics of Diplomacy , Lynne Rienner Publishers, London.

Walker, Ronald A. (2004), Multilateral Conferences: Purposeful International Negotiation, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11741674 - G20: Leaders' statement from Seoul summit. It shows how states can achieve agreements in multilateral conferences.