There is much talk in the air – especially in the US – about reinventing diplomacy for the twenty-first century. But those who assume that the old diplomacy of the nineteenth or even the twentieth century – as it is described by today’s "global network" enthusiasts – was conducted entirely behind closed doors by elites have got their history wrong.
FLORENCE – There is much talk in the air – especially in Britain and the United States – about reinventing diplomacy for the twenty-first century. Both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the British Tories’ leader, David Cameron, have spoken recently of a new synthesis of defense, diplomacy, and development, noting that recent American and British foreign policy has placed too much emphasis on the first element at the expense of the latter two.
Meanwhile, the European Union has established a new foreign-policy apparatus called the European External Action Service (EEAS), which is meant to represent the common interests of all 27 of the EU’s member states. The lines of authority between the new Euro-diplomats and existing national foreign ministries are still unclear; but the EEAS is, nonetheless, a fact.
Similar plans for Asia and elsewhere remain largely on the drawing board; but the members of such organizations as the ASEAN Regional Forum, the African Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at least are talking more and more seriously about harmonizing policies on issues of common interest.
FLORENCE – There is much talk in the air – especially in Britain and the United States – about reinventing diplomacy for the twenty-first century. Both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the British Tories’ leader, David Cameron, have spoken recently of a new synthesis of defense, diplomacy, and development, noting that recent American and British foreign policy has placed too much emphasis on the first element at the expense of the latter two.
Meanwhile, the European Union has established a new foreign-policy apparatus called the European External Action Service (EEAS), which is meant to represent the common interests of all 27 of the EU’s member states. The lines of authority between the new Euro-diplomats and existing national foreign ministries are still unclear; but the EEAS is, nonetheless, a fact.
Similar plans for Asia and elsewhere remain largely on the drawing board; but the members of such organizations as the ASEAN Regional Forum, the African Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at least are talking more and more seriously about harmonizing policies on issues of common interest.