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Current Volume: 18

Contents

Maren Hofius
Abstract

How do diplomatic practices change under crisis conditions? To explore the possible effects of crisis on diplomatic standards of competence, the article zooms in on the modes of knowledge production of frontline diplomats in crisis. An illustrative case study of European Union (EU) diplomatic practice in Ukraine during the Euromaidan revolution reveals two different modes of knowledge production among members of the local EU diplomatic ‘community of practice’: a rule-following and reflexive mode. The article finds that the reflexive mode of knowledge production surfaces in times of crisis and reflects a heretofore under-acknowledged standard of excellence, the ‘ethics of care’ towards the host state’s citizens. Foregrounding the ‘ethics of care’ as a standard of competence sheds new light on diplomatic ethics and advances International Practice Theory’s (IPT) discussion about the normativity of practices and the contested nature of diplomatic competence.

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Jens Meijen
Abstract

Populism is traditionally understood as a challenge to diplomacy. This article reconsiders that notion through an illustrative case of regional sub-state diplomacy. First, it examines how and why populists discredit diplomacy and the international order through four typically populist discursive strategies: crisis discourse, exceptionalism, underdogism and challengerism. Second, it explores why populists may approach regional sub-state diplomacy differently. To illustrate this, it examines the position of Vlaams Belang (a Flemish populist party in Belgium) in the Flemish Parliament Commission for Foreign Policy. It shows that the party discredits state diplomacy while advocating for stronger Flemish diplomacy, implying that the idea of populism as a challenge to diplomacy does not necessarily hold up for regional sub-state diplomacy. As such, the article suggests that the multifarious ways in which populism and diplomacy intersect deserve greater scrutiny and that diplomacy studies should approach populism not as a monolith but as a multi-faceted concept.

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Baldur Thorhallsson, Jóna Sólveig Elínardóttir & Anna Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Abstract

This article provides a case study of a small state, Iceland, and its motives for running for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-2010 term, the domestic dispute about the affair, key campaign messages and the campaign strategy. The article fills a gap in the international relations and small state literature on small states’ campaign strategies in UNSC elections. We conclude that the decision to run for a seat and the core message of the campaign were largely based on the quest to enhance Iceland’s status among international actors. However, the country’s lack of resources, limited international engagement and domestic debate about the candidacy became a hindrance. Iceland succeeded in using its smallness to build good momentum for its candidacy but in the end it failed due to weaknesses associated with its small size and its lack of contributions, competence and ideational commitment in the UN.

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Kadir Jun Ayhan & Siyeon Jang
Abstract

The people of the two Koreas cannot communicate directly with one another. Since the early 1990s, South and North Korea have allowed a limited number of people-to-people exchanges. In this article, we map the South Korean government’s theories of change regarding inter-Korean exchanges based on policy documents and semi-structured interviews with five high-level Ministry of Unification bureaucrats. We also explore the outcomes of inter-Korean exchanges, building on ten South Korean participants’ insights. Our findings suggest that the primary goals of inter-Korean social and cultural exchanges have been to expand contact between the two Koreas to alleviate the sense of mutual alienation, to increase empathy and, in turn, to reduce tensions and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Participant interviews reveal that direct interpersonal interaction between South and North Koreans reinforces the idea of a superordinate Korean group identity.

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Ieva Birka, Didzis Kļaviņš & Roberts Kits
Abstract

Declaring the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 left thousands of travellers stranded, propelling consular work to the forefront, and testing governments’ capacity to aid their nationals abroad. While all consular departments provided assistance and duty of care (DoC) through information and guidance, some were reactive while others were proactive, and some were willing to make exceptions and engage in pastoral care. Analysis of the Baltic and Nordic countries’ reactions to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 shows us how DoC diverged in practice, and to note the transition of consular affairs into consular diplomacy and its interplay with facets of digital, citizen-centric and diaspora diplomacy. The conclusion is that all eight countries exceeded normal consular practice and exhibited some level of pastoral DoC, with Latvia and Lithuania exhibiting high levels of pastoral care. In parallel, Lithuania and Denmark, in their responses, effectively incorporated innovative elements of digital and diaspora diplomacy.

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Elif Ezgi Keleş

Book reviewed:

  • Mary Manjikian (2020). Gender, Sexuality, and Intelligence Studies: The Spy in the Closet. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-39894-1 279 pp. €42.79 (eBook)

Article available at Brill.com

Richard Fosu

Book reviewed:

  • Emmanuel H.D. De Groof and Micha Wiebusch, eds., International Law and Transitional Governance: Critical Perspectives (Abingdon: Routledge, 2020). Pp. 165. £44.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-367-17810-9.

Article available at Brill.com

Emad A. Ayasreh

Book reviewed:

  • R. S. Zaharna, Boundary Spanners of Humanity: Three Logics of Communications and Public Diplomacy for Global Collaboration (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022). Pp. 253. $24.20 (epub). ISBN: 978-0-1909-3030-1.

Article available at Brill.com

Eva Froneberg

Book reviewed:

  • Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson and Melanie Phillips, eds., Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring Campaigning, and Governing. Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). Pp. xiv+245. £75.00 (Hardcover and eBook). ISBN: 978-0-19-289807-4 (Hardcover). IBSN: 978-0-19-265296-6 (eBook).

Article available at Brill.com

Lise H. Andersen

Book reviewed:

  • Hana Alhashimi, Andres Fiallo, Toni-Shae Freckleton, Mona Ali Khalil, Vahd Mulachela, and Jonathan Viera, eds., The Future of Diplomacy after COVID-19: Multilateralism and the Global Pandemic (Abingdon: Routledge, 2021). Pp. 159. £29.99 (eBook). ISBN: 978-1-003-16680-1.

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Danielle Wolff

Book reviewed:

  • Miia Huttunen, Politicised Cinema: Post-War Film, Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022). Pp. xii+165. £120.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-1032120003. £33.29 (eBook). ISBN: 978-1003-222606.

Article available at Brill.com

Giulia Papapietro

Book reviewed:

  • Kirsten Haack. Women’s Access, Representation and Leadership in the United Nations. Gender and Politics (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature, 2022). Pp. 222. €103.99 (Hardback). €85.59 (eBook). ISBN: 978-3-030-83536-1 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-3-030-83537-8 (eBook).

Article available at Brill.com

Diletta M. L. Alparone

Book reviewed:

  • Sue Boyd. Not Always Diplomatic: An Australian Woman’s Journey through International Affairs (Crawley: University of Western Australia Publishing, 2020). Pp. 304 pp. A$29.99. ISBN: 978-1-76080-149-6 (Paperback).

Article available at Brill.com

Publication date: December 2022
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