The latest embarrassment of US officials by the comments leaked in Wikileaks (Guardian, 07/01/2011) made me ask myself again about the role of diplomats. The article mentions that comments made by US ambassadors in reports to Washington have upset the host countries. The embassy cables are confidential documents of more than 274 embassies between 1966 and 2010; the whole affair has been dubbed “cablegate”. I recommend everyone to browse the site for more details.
http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/secret_US_Embassy_Cables_(Cablegate)_1966-2010/
Another story related mentioned in the Guardian earlier in 2010 was about the Turkish Ambassador in Vienna speaking out on the way Turks are treated as “virus” by Austrians (the Guardian, 11/11/2010). These comments were seen as insulting Austrians and didn’t go down well at all in Vienna.
While the first story brings to the public elements on diplomatic relations and foreign policy it would never have normally been aware of, bringing transparency and truth to the wide audience; the second article shows that being open in the first place doesn’t necessarily work either. These two examples show that the relationship between diplomat and host country is very important, bearing in mind that diplomats can be dismissed by the host countries and be declared “persona non grata” (Kleiner, 2010, p3). The question is: is secrecy still needed in diplomatic relations or do we have the right to know?
Guardian.co.uk, 7 Jan 2011, “Wikileaks cables prompt US to move diplomatic dispatches”
Kleiner, J., 2010, Diplomatic Practice: between tradition and innovation
The Guardian, 11 Nov 2010, “Austria treats Turks ‘like a virus’, ambassador claims”
The question you raise is very well exampled, it is obvious to me that there is a requirement for secrecy within diplomatic relations. Without it, critical negoiations would be flooded with negative media interpretation and no light on the real issues being discussed. Moreover, one can assume that only negative bilateral instances will occur due to the negative perception the media involves.
ReplyDeleteMost of scholars agree, that public negotiations cannot succeed and bring the result that is willing to, as negotiations and diplomacy as a whole are structures more complicated, more similar to a chess board, where revealing your intentions to publich would mean revealing it to the opponent as well.
ReplyDeletebut maybe being open with you intentions would make a change in world politics...
ReplyDelete