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What
is international diplomacy?
Diplomacy is the means by
which the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples are
influenced through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or
violence (Britannica)
International Diplomacy is a process of communication
with foreign publics in order to bring about understanding for one’s
nation, its institutions and culture, as
well as its national goals and current policies.
Diplomacy is most importantly used to
complete a specific agenda. Therefore without diplomacy, much of the world’s
affairs would be abolished, international organizations would not exist, and
above all the world would be at a constant state of war. It is for diplomacy
that certain countries can exist in harmony.
However, for Russian General and military theorist, Carl von Clausewitz, war is merely an extension of diplomacy by other means, another tool in the political game.
For him, the objectives of war are always political objectives, and that war must always be subservient to politics. In other words, wars should not be fought for their own sake, but only as an extension of politics.
Diplomacy entails many aspects; political diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, religious diplomacy, economic diplomacy etc.
History
of Diplomacy
Modern diplomatic practices are a product
of the post-Renaissance European state system. Historically, diplomacy is the
conduct of official relations between sovereign states. By the 20th century
diplomatic practices pioneered in Europe had been adopted throughout the world.
Diplomacy had expanded to cover summit meetings and other international
conferences, parliamentary diplomacy, the international activities of
supranational and sub national entities, unofficial diplomacy by
nongovernmental elements, and the work of international civil servants.
There has not been a documented start of
diplomacy; however there have been instances ranging back to the 5th
century where diplomacy arose in certain nations. Dating back to 432 B.C, the
Congress of Sparta was an “illustration of diplomacy as organized by the Greek
City States” (Nicolson 1). The origin of the word “diploma” comes from
different sides of the earth. In Greece diploma meant “folded in two”, while in
Ancient Rome the word was used to describe travel documents.
Originally diplomats were sent only for
specific negotiations, and would return immediately after their mission
concluded. They were usually relatives of the ruling family or of very high
rank in order to give them legitimacy when they sought to negotiate with the
other state.
Modern diplomacy's origins are often traced to the states of Northern Italy in the early Renaissance, with the first embassies being established in the thirteenth century. Milan played a leading role, especially under Francesco Sforza who established permanent embassies to the other cities states of Northern Italy. It was in Italy that many of the traditions of modern diplomacy began, such as the presentation of an ambassador's credentials to the head of state.
The practice spread from Italy to the other European powers. Milan was the first to send a representative to the court of France in 1455. Milan however refused to host French representatives fearing espionage and possible intervention in internal affairs. As foreign powers such as France and Spain became increasingly involved in Italian politics the need to accept emissaries was recognized. Soon all the major European powers were exchanging representatives. Spain was the first to send a permanent representative when it appointed an ambassador to the Court of England in 1487. By the late 16th century, permanent missions became the standard.
Many of the conventions of modern diplomacy
developed during this period. The top rank of representatives was an
ambassador. An ambassador at this time was almost always a nobleman - the
rank of the noble varied with the prestige of the country he was posted to.
The elements of modern diplomacy slowly
spread to Eastern Europe and arrived in Russia by the early eighteenth century.
The entire system was greatly disrupted by the French Revolution and the
subsequent years of warfare. After the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna
of 1815 established an international system of diplomatic rank.
Disputes on precedence among nations (and
the appropriate diplomatic ranks used) persisted for over a century until after
World War II, when the rank of ambassador became the norm.
Why
is diplomacy important?
At
the present time, to maintain good political relations is more profitable than
to be in war. For example, according to Boston Globe Online, 150
economists and a few Nobel laureates calculated the approximate cost of war in
Iraq in 2003. A budget cost of this war was said to be to equal $100bn, but it
is also included human cost of both sides. In 2007, as BBC put the price of war
in Iraq at $500bn and 3,500 dead and 25,000 wounded only American soldiers. Therefore,
it is better to promote the state’s interests using more peaceful means such as
diplomacy and mass media.
Diplomacy
is a peaceful method to solve conflict, maintain good relations, and advance
interests of the state through conducting negotiations between representatives
of states. According to Encyclopedia of Placement, work of diplomats is
based on watching the events happened in the country, following reactions of
world states on the main world events, reporting about them to Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, recommending what official position is better to a concrete
case and, at the same time. Diplomats have official right to collect
information about country where they work. According to the Russian site that
is called The Independent Military Review, Secret Intelligence Service
of Britain in 1970-1980s cooperated with military attaché in embassy. As a
result, very often they are suspected in espionage and expelled from the
country. For instance, the site Agentura.ru writes about expelling of 80
USSR diplomats by Ronald Reagan in 1986. According to the site of Foreign
Intelligence Service of Ukraine, information collected by USA ambassador
always, first of all, goes to The Office of Intelligence and Investigations of
State Department. Nevertheless, diplomacy is a very good mean to reach peaceful
solution of the problem. For example, thanks to 6-party talks between the
United States, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and, South Korea can decrease
conflict concerned North Korean nuclear program and, according to BBC, DPRK
said that would stop its program.
Media
and International Diplomacy – The CNN Effect
As the means of dispersing information
have grown increasingly quicker and easier over the years, so also has the need
for governments and nations to position themselves in a positive light in the media, grown more competitive.
The success or failure of public diplomacy
through media, however, can only be judged by its intended audience. The most
critical criterion is the media’s credibility, which can be achieved by the
independence of media as well as freedom from editorial bias. Furthermore, only
when such media activities are combined with cultural programs and
people-to-people exchanges can its synergy effects be maximized. However, as
seen in past cases of cartoons, photos and video clips, carelessness and
negligence can seriously damage the public diplomacy efforts of major powers.
To prevent these types of incidents, public awareness campaigns should be
arranged to encourage every citizen to join in the public diplomacy activities.
Diplomatic scholars and practitioners have
long realized the relationship between communication and diplomacy. This link suggests
that prevailing methods of communication define future methods of diplomatic practice.
By the 1990s, communication could determine diplomatic outcomes, under certain
conditions.
Western diplomacy is marked by two
prevailing methods of practice; old diplomacy and new diplomacy. Old diplomacy relied
upon privacy and secrecy and defined Western diplomatic practice from the time
of Renaissance until the World War 1 era. New diplomacy on the other hand
relied upon openness and defined diplomatic practice from World War 1 until the
1980s.
This move was as a result of the
prevailing method of communication; from handwritten notes to mass printing of
newspapers. This method has undergone yet another shift; global television. Since
we can all witness events that occur half a world away and in real time, the
third shift tele-diplomacy emerged in the late 1980s.
Where communications earlier defined methods
of diplomatic practices, under tele-diplomacy, communications can determine foreign
policies that result from diplomatic decision making.
It was a series of
events during the 1990s that elevated news media to the status of being
potentially critical actors, with respect to humanitarian crisis and
high-level foreign policy decision-making. Starting with the Kurdish crisis in
1991, and swiftly followed by Operation Restore Hope in Somalia (1992-93), a
series of humanitarian crises were associated with an emerging doctrine of
so-called humanitarian intervention.
In Northern Iraq, media coverage of the Kurdish crisis appeared to
lead to the first case of UN-legitimated humanitarian intervention whereby
protected safe havens were created in Northern Iraq in order to shield Kurds
from attacks by Saddam Hussein’s forces.
In Somalia, US
news media coverage of famine during the civil war of the early 1990s appeared
to persuade President George Bush (Snr) to deploy 28,000 troops in support of
aid workers. For some, at the time, it appeared to be the case that news media
were at the centre of an emerging doctrine of humanitarian intervention whereby
sovereignty was no longer sacrosanct. The notion that media were driving
foreign policy decision-making became widely known as the CNN effect.
For liberals and those in humanitarian circles, naturally, these developments
were warmly welcomed and seen as indicative of the way in which media could
open up the traditionally conservative and non-interventionist (with respect to
humanitarian crises) orientation of foreign policy communities.
For many, the proliferation of new
communication technology, such as portable satellite broadcasting equipment and
the emergence of digital cameras contained within mobile phones, appears to
create a degree of transparency of events around the world that is
unprecedented.
The recent and ongoing controversy over
the Wikileaks website, which has disseminated online large quantities of
secret US government documents regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as
well diplomatic cables, epitomizes the apparently limited capacity governments
have to control information flows in the internet era. Most recently, during
the so-called Arab Spring, social media have been implicated in the ability of
people to organize and rise up against authoritarian governments throughout the
Middle East.
The CNN effect of the 1990s highlighted
the ability, under certain circumstances, for media to shape policy responses
during international crises. The question of whether media continues to be able
to drive high-level decision making, as was occasionally seen during the 1990s,
is more open to questions.
As such, politicians go beyond the simple
norm of public diplomacy and try to provide more detailed and comprehensive
information through sophisticated techniques. This trend has encouraged big
powers such as the U.S., China, Russia, and the EU to allocate increasingly
larger budgets to their own global media. In short, they are now fully engaged
in a war to win the hearts and minds of people of the world.
Nigerian
Media and international diplomacy
While the developed nations of the world
continue to use the media to further diplomatic ties and push foreign policies
in their favour, the same cannot be said for the Nigerian media. The Nigeria
media in this case encompasses all forms of communications through which
information, entertainment, education and news are disseminated. This includes
the mass media of radio, television , newspapers and the film industry,
Nollywood. The Nigerian media is seemingly unaware of its power and ability to
influence foreign policy by way of highlighting lapses in our diplomatic
relations.
For instance, in the area of cultural
diplomacy, the Nigeria media has mostly projected the negative aspects of our
culture, leaving out everything positive about it. Aside from its role of
information dissemination, the mass media also performs the role of educating
and entertaining the public.
Cultural
Diplomacy is a course of action, based on the exchange and utilization of
ideas, values, traditions and other aspects of culture or identity, whether to
strengthen relationships, enhance socio-cultural cooperation, promote national
interests and beyond.
The mass media role of the transmission of
cultural heritage makes the transmission of cultural diplomacy easier across
national borders. Cultural diplomacy if well harnessed along other variables
and factors in the society can result to the desired level of national security
required for national development.
Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry which
has been in the fore front of promoting Nigeria’s cultural heritage through
performance, arts and movies can project the ideals, values, aspirations of Nigeria’s
culture to the world through deliberate efforts of conscious exchange.
However, other film industries, such as
Bollywood projects the Indian culture as rich in family values, history and
cultural heritage, in contrast Nollywood seems mostly focused on the negative
aspects of Nigeria’s culture which they think would most likely be a commercial
success.
For instance right from the 1970s till
date, when Indian movies was brought to a Nigerian audience via cinemas and
video recordings and satellite, all that was known about Indians was their beauty,
their love for music and dancing and the simplicity of their lifestyle as was
evidenced through modest homes and modest automobiles.
It wasn’t until 2012, that Nigeria and
indeed the world became aware of a much deeper societal problem in India which
is scarcely portrayed in their movies; that is the prevalence of sexual crimes
against women.
A 23-year-old physiotherapy student, Jyoti
Singh was gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi by six men. After the rape,
she was thrown off the still moving bus. She later died in a Singaporean
hospital on December 28, two weeks after being attacked.
The global outrage and nationwide protests
in India which greeted the incident only served to throw more light on the extent
of the crime and the collusion of Indian lawmakers and justice system, which
usually treat rape crimes with levity.
However this did nothing to deter the
Indian government from banning a documentary based on the event, titled Indian’s Daughter. Leslee Udwin, the
filmmaker, despite attempting to balance the documentary by also interviewing
the rapists and their lawyers, was accused by the Indian government of failing
to secure the correct permissions before interviewing the suspects. They also
added that she refused to abide by agreements to show authorities unedited
versions of the interview. This was the extent India was willing to go to
preserve their cultural diplomacy and the carefully crafted image the world had
of them prior to the incident.
Every human being and by extension, nation
has its flaws but we all try to put our best foot forward especially when we
are in a new environment or meeting people for the first time. The same rule
should be applied in the manner film makers in Nollywood craft movies based on
societal and cultural issues.
Most of the movies we export outside our
shores may be the only representation of Nigeria, these foreigners will ever
have and it is in our best interest if we try as much as possible to make sure
what goes into our movies are scenes that depict Nigeria at its very best
culturally.
References
https://belvina.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/the-role-of-diplomacy-and-media-in-international-relations/
Global Television and the
Shaping of World Politics: CNN, Telediplomacy, and Foreign Policy By Royce J. Ammon
https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/553423/zingarelliMeganElizabeth.pdf
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