Canadian and Norwegian, public diplomacy-related materials I have read the recurrence and interestingly varied use of the term, ‘partnership’. 6 This is, I 6) Alan K. Henrikson, ‘Niche Diplomacy in the World Public Arena: the Global. Diplomatic relations with various types of actors. 2004, of 4 May 2004.
What is Diplomacy?
- Diplomacy is a principal activity of heads of states, governments and special bodies of external relations in implementation of goals, objectives of state's foreign policy, as well as protection of rights and interests of state abroad
- It is a method to manipulate or influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or violence.
- It is a conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment , and human rights.
- International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.
- In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational or polite manner.
- The scholarly discipline of diplomatic, dealing with the study of old documents derives its name from the same source, but its modern meaning is quite distinct from the activity of diplomacy.
History of Diplomacy:
- Ancient India, with its epics, kingdoms and dynasties, had a long tradition of diplomacy.
- The diplomacy is mentioned in Indian epic like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
- Lord Rama, in the epic Ramayana, sent his envoy to Lanka to negotiate with his adversary before the war.
- It is also good to note that Lord Krishna, in the epic Mahabharata, acted as a divine diplomat and statesman between the Kuru and Pandava dynasties.
- The oldest treatise on statecraft and diplomacy, Arthashastra, is attributed to Chanakya, who was the principal adviser to Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya dynasty who ruled in the 3rd century BC.
- Arthashastra is a complete work on the art of kingship, with long chapters on taxation and on the raising and maintenance of armies.
- It graded state power with respect to five factors and emphasized espionage, diplomatic maneuver, and contention by 12 categories of states within a complex geopolitical matrix.
- It also posited four expedients of statecraft (conciliation, seduction, subversion, and coercion) and six forms of state policy (peace, war, nonalignment, alliances, shows of force, and double-dealing).
- It also incorporates a theory of diplomacy, of how in a situation of mutually contesting kingdoms, the wise king builds alliances and tries to checkmate his adversaries.
- The envoys sent at the time to the courts of other kingdoms tended to reside for extended periods of time, and Arthashastra contains advice on the deportment of the envoy, including the trenchant suggestion that 'he should sleep alone'.
- The highest morality for the king is that his kingdom should prosper.
Nature of Diplomacy:
- Diplomacy is not immoral
- Diplomacy is a means of International Relations
- Diplomacy is machinery for action
- Diplomacy acts through Settled Procedures
- Bilateral as well as Multilateral in Form
- Diplomacy handles all types of Matters
- Breakdown of Diplomacy always leads to Crisis
- Diplomacy operates both in times of Peace as well as War
- Diplomacy works in an environment characterised both by Conflict and Cooperation
- Diplomacy always works for securing national interests of the nation it represents
- Diplomacy is backed by National Power
Types of Diplomacy:
There are a variety of diplomatic categories and diplomatic strategies employed by organizations and governments to achieve their aims, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Appeasement:
- Appeasement is a policy of making concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid confrontation.
Soft Power:
- Soft power, sometimes called hearts and minds diplomacy, as defined by Joseph Nye, is the cultivation of relationships, respect, or even admiration from others in order to gain influence, as opposed to more coercive approaches.
Monetary Diplomacy:
- Monetary diplomacy is the use of foreign aid or other types of monetary policy as a means to achieve a diplomatic agenda.
Gunboat Diplomacy:
- Gunboat diplomacy is the use of conspicuous displays of military strength as a means of intimidation in order to influence others.
Public Diplomacy:
- Public diplomacy is exercising influence through communication with the general public in another nation, rather than attempting to influence the nation's government directly.
- This communication may take the form of propaganda, or more benign forms such as citizen diplomacy, individual interactions between average citizens of two or more nations.
Nuclear Diplomacy:
- Nuclear diplomacy is the area of diplomacy related to preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear war.
- One of the most well-known (and most controversial) philosophies of nuclear diplomacy is Mutually Assured Destruct ion (MAD).
Objectives of Diplomacy:
Diplomacy seeks to secure two types of primary objectives for the nation it represents. These are:
- Political Objectives;
- Non-political Objectives.
Political Objectives:
- Diplomacy always works to secure the goals of national interest as defined by the foreign policy. It always works for increasing the influence of the state over other states. It uses persuasion, promises of rewards and other such means for this purpose.
- Through rational negotiations, it seeks to justify the objectives of the foreign policy of the nation. It seeks to promote friendship and cooperation with other nations.
Non-political Objectives:
- The interdependence among nations is the most important and valuable fact of international living.
- Each nation depends upon others for economic and industrial links and trade.
- Diplomacy always seeks to promote the economic, commercial and cultural links of the nation with other nations.
- Diplomacy depends upon peaceful means, persuasive methods for promoting the interests of the nation and this is indeed an important non-political objective of Diplomacy.
Diplomatic resolutions of problems:
Various processes and procedures have evolved over time for handling diplomatic issues and disputes.
Arbitration and Mediation:
- Nations sometimes resort to international arbitration when faced with a specific quest ion or point of content ion in need of resolution.
- For most of history, there were no official or formal procedures for such proceedings. They were generally accepted to abide by general principles and protocols related to international law and justice.
- Sometimes these took the form of formal arbitrations and mediations. In such cases a commission of diplomats might be convened to hear all sides of an issue, and to come some sort of ruling based on international law.
- In the modern era, much of this work is often carried out by the International Court of Justice at The Hague, or other formal commissions, agencies and tribunals, working under the United Nations.
Conferences:
- Other times, resolutions were sought through the convening of international conferences.
- In such cases, there are fewer ground rules, and fewer formal applications of international law. However, participants are expected to guide themselves through principles of international fairness, logic, and protocol.
Negotiations:
- Sometimes nations convene official negotiation processes to set t le a specific dispute or specific issue between several nations which are parties to a dispute. These are similar to the conferences mentioned above, as there are technically no established rules or procedures. However, there are general principles and precedents which help define a course for such proceedings.
The word diplomacy invokes images of international intrigue, power and strategy.
After all, diplomats tackle the World's big problems — trade, war, economics, culture, environment and human rights. It often feels that diplomats make little progress but the World would surely be a mess without diplomacy.
If you think your problems with office politics, sales or salary negotiations are difficult — imagine the challenge of influencing nations to clean up their environmental practices or of preventing a war between bitter rivals.
Diplomatic techniques and strategy can be applied to everyday business negotiations.
Why not use diplomacy in your work? These time-honored diplomatic strategies are easy enough to apply to business situations.
1. Use An Advocate (Shuttle Diplomacy)
Use a semi-independent advocate to influence the other side in negotiations. For example, employers often use agents to state their case in salary negotiations.2. Superrationality
Superrationality is an advanced diplomatic technique that solves strategic dilemmas such as the Mexican Standoff. It's considered an alternative to game theory.Game theory assumes that players in a game act in their own self interest. In some situations (such as the Mexican Standoff), when players act in their own self interest — they lose.
Superrationality is a diplomatic model that suggests negotiators can get beyond their self interests to seek an optimal solution for everyone.
3. Use of Objective Criteria
Frame your positions with objective criteria (facts). Example, 'this discount is rather large, the average discount we offer is only 22.3%'.4. Tit for Tat
Tit for Tat is a process of equivalent retaliation. It's a common strategy in international diplomacy that involves three steps:Always cooperate, until provoked.
If provoked, always retaliate with equal force.
Be quick to forgive.
The strategy is intended to maximize the chances for a peaceful resolution of conflict.
5. Buy Time
If the other side is making large gains in negotiations, it's often a good idea to find an excuse to delay.Delay tactics are easy to implement. For example, flood the other side with irrelevant information (known as a snow job).
Use the delay to regroup, identify lessons learned and refocus your strategy.
6. Ignore Imposed Constraints
It may be in your best interests to ignore deadlines and other constraints imposed by the other side. It's important not to let the other side box you in.7. Name the Trick
If the other side uses a deceptive tactic such as a red herring or straw man — name their trick (e.g. 'This is a delay tactic isn't it?').8. Call Bluffs
If you think the other side is bluffing — call them on it. Ask them to show their cards. For example, in salary negotiations a candidate may claim to have other offers, ask to see the offers in writing (although non-disclosure agreements may already be in place).9. Build Golden Bridges
Give the other side options that allow them to come away from negotiations with some wins.10. Avoid Escalations
When negotiations become heated take a break or use humor to defuse the situation.11. Anchoring
Negotiators have a tendency to use the first information they hear as an anchor (important information they keep coming back to).In sales, be the first to mention a price. The other side may continue to use your first price as an anchor.
12. Make Your Ideas Seem Like Their Ideas
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.A highly skilled diplomat is able to lead the other side to desired conclusions. With a soft touch, the other side may accept your ideas are their own.
~ Lao Tzu
13. Never Allow Your Opponent to Lose Face
Never personally attack your opponent or make them look bad. If they make themselves look bad, help them to recover.14. Code Words & Politeness
In diplomacy, code words are used to keep criticism polite (on the surface). Diplomats don't argue, they have 'frank discussions'. They avoid words that can be used against them and shade their harsh words.This technique is often used in business. You don't say that a consultant is incompetent, you say they 'lack the requisite capabilities'.
15. Set Up Your Opponent's Victory Speech
The other side wants to be able to tell their boss that they were victorious in negotiations. Strategies such as door-in-the-face help the other side to walk away with a perceived victory.This post is part of the ongoing series of articles called how to win at negotiation.