Sieglinde Gstöhl

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has, reinforced by the Lisbon Treaty, long been pursuing an improved position in international organisations. Yet, with a few exceptions, it mainly still holds an observer status. This article critically examines the ‘membership myth’ prevalent in the policy and scholarly discourse that the EU’s external representation would be more effective if the Union itself was a full member and/or if (also) all its Member States joined. It asks to what extent membership indeed makes a difference for effective external representation in multilateral fora. Based on case studies from the field of global economic governance, it challenges the myth and the rights-based focus on formal status. It then expands on Hofmann and colleagues’ capacity-based concept of ‘memberness’ as an important complementary perspective and a promising avenue for further research by applying it to the EU and by elaborating additional types of memberness.

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Zhenglun Chen and Ping Tang

Abstract

This article reconceptualises online citizen diplomacy as an autonomous, ethically anchored diplomatic practice emerging within the global virtuality as an operational power. Departing from state-centric frameworks such as soft power and public diplomacy, it advances a constructivist model centred on relational, collaborative and networked forms of engagement. In this recursive framework, informed and responsible citizens co-construct shared problem-spaces through dialogic interaction, aiming not to influence foreign policy directly but to reshape its legitimising environment by fostering mutual recognition and dignifying difference. Empirical analysis across three cases illustrates the conditions under which such diplomacy succeeds or stalls. Its enduring value lies not in replacing statecraft, but in structurally conditioning it: by sustaining global discursive spaces where moral, political and reputational pressures – generated through ethically anchored, dialogic engagement in the global virtuality – recalibrate or complement the legitimising environment within which foreign policy operates.

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Lise H. Andersen

Abstract

While rotation remains common practice, some states are embedding professionals within their multilateral delegations and keeping their expertise ‘in function’ on a more permanent basis at the United Nations. This practice has, however, been largely overlooked in the literature and has not been linked to the idea of specialised diplomacy. In turn, while the term ‘specialised diplomacy’ is mentioned in the pertinent scholarship, it has not been offered in-depth definitional attention nor empirical grounding. Linking this otherwise ‘unused’ concept to the aforementioned observation, this article conceptualises specialised diplomacy as the practice of developing a unique form of context-specific hybridised expertise through the long-term stationing of professionals in a particular multilateral negotiation process. Employing a single case study approach, the article initiates an empirical base for this concept, explores its implications for contemporary diplomacy and reveals that states have been utilising this practice for decades.

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Seda Gürkan and Özlem Terzi

Abstract

This Forum article explores the role of emotions in international organisations (IO s) in the context of a shifting and contested liberal international order (LIO). It explores how emotions influence decision-making, diplomatic negotiations, legitimacy and policy outcomes in institutions with a focus on the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). The introductory piece also introduces a future research agenda on emotions in multilateral diplomacy. We argue that as the post-WWII liberal order comes under increasing strain from geopolitical tensions, wars and global crises, emotions have become increasingly central to multilateral diplomacy and international governance. Yet their role remains under-researched within IO s. Understanding how emotions influence multilateral diplomacy offers new insights into institutional resilience, legitimacy and the dynamics of international co-operation. The Forum suggests that emotions are not peripheral but central to the functioning of IO s. The contributions point to a need for more systematic study of different aspects of emotions within IO s.

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Anne-Marie Houde

Abstract

Legitimacy is essential to the effectiveness of international organisations (IO s). As IO s become more politicised, they increasingly elicit emotional responses from citizens ranging from hope to resentment. This article explores how such emotions affect the legitimacy of IO s and how IO s themselves mobilise emotions to reinforce it. Negative public emotions can weaken legitimacy, as seen in events such as Brexit or the failed ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), where discontent towards the European Union shaped political outcomes and cast doubt on the future of European co-operation. Yet positive emotions can bolster legitimacy, rendering alternatives unthinkable and increasing support for IO s’ aims. IO s are not merely reactive; they actively shape emotional narratives by appealing to shared values, moral commitments or historical memory. Rather than viewing legitimacy as a purely rational or legal status, this article argues that emotional dynamics are central to how IO s gain, maintain or lose legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

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Emmanuelle Blanc

Abstract

In the halls of the United Nations, multilateral diplomacy often appears paradoxical. On the one hand, observers frequently decry its inertia: resolutions stall, negotiations drag on and grand declarations are made with little follow-through. Yet, despite this perceived stasis, states continue to show up. They deliver speeches, sponsor initiatives and participate in endless rounds of dialogue. This enduring engagement points to a deeper emotional undercurrent: hope. While traditionally examined in the context of intractable conflicts, hope also animates the procedural and rhetorical practices of multilateral diplomacy. Focusing on the debates in the UN General Assembly following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, this article explores how hope functions as a strategic narrative in multilateral diplomacy. Drawing on Snyder’s psychological model of hope, comprising goals, pathways and agency, it analyses how states deploy hopeful rhetoric to persuade others, justify their positions, project leadership and sustain belief in the possibilities of global co-operation, even amid crises.

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Cornelia Baciu

Abstract

What emotions do international organisations (IO s) display in times of tragedy and why do they matter? I argue that IO s express emotions that aim to produce ontological security, defined as feelings of security of Self. Conceptualising emotions and affect as illocutions-perlocutions, I show how emotions expressed by IO s in times of crisis aim at creating trust and deterring dangers, thus having the potential to ultimately shape feelings of security. I examine NATO’s response following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I demonstrate that, through the ritualised and performative nature of speech acts and practices, NATO, seen as the illocutor of emotional expressions such as unity, solidarity, friendship and joy, can be entangled with a phenomenological state in which member states, seen as the perlocutors, perceive safety, agency and reassurance. I illustrate two ways in which NATO expresses emotions that could generate ontological security: expressing emotional belonging and positive emotions.

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Tatiana Coutto and Balkan Devlen

Abstract

Drawing on Haidt and Graham’s Moral Foundations Theory and computational text analysis, this article analyses 2,263 speeches delivered during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly between 1990 and 2023 to investigate the moral and emotional dimensions of populist foreign policy. Our findings reveal that populist leaders, irrespective of their nationality and political orientation, have developed a common foreign policy grammar that distinguishes them from other political figures. Their predominantly negative rhetoric emphasises moral values such as in-group loyalty, authority and purity, while non-populist leaders rely less on negative moral appeals, thus emphasising norms, co-operation and justice. Emotions such as anger and disgust are more prominent in populist discourse, namely among right-wing leaders. The values and emotions that underpin populist discourse contribute to the social construction of a less co-operative-prone environment, thereby hindering consensus-building initiatives and potentially weakening multilateral institutions.

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Rosa M. Sanchez Salgado

Abstract

Considering that the European Union (EU) has adopted a gender transformative vision for its external policy, why is there no substantial progress in gender equality in the EU’s foreign policy and diplomacy? Studying foreign policy, diplomacy and gender with a specific emphasis on the role of emotions could help explain why a narrow understanding of gender issues and gender inequality prevails in the EU despite the proliferation of formal rules and institutions. Gendered-emotion stereotypes contribute to a better understanding of why gendered policy areas prevail, to the detriment of the powerful participation of women in EU foreign policy and diplomacy. The study of the role of emotions could be central to uncover the power asymmetries between men and women in EU foreign policy and diplomacy and to understand why men continue to have more power and higher status than women.

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Isabella E. Brunner, Dennis Broeders, Lise H. Andersen, and Arun Sukumar

Abstract

The debate over a convention on international cyber security is long-standing, but recent developments suggest that treaty negotiations are becoming increasingly plausible. While Western and like-minded states have long opposed negotiations, Russia has consistently advocated for a treaty on ‘international information security’. Past developments, including the United Nations cybercrime negotiations, also initiated by Russia, suggest that resistance by Western states is not sustainable. This article assesses the likelihood of international cyber security treaty negotiations and draws lessons from developments in cyber diplomacy, coalition success factors in international negotiations and the cybercrime process to identify key factors Western states need to consider for developing a strategy. It explores three options: maintaining a ‘wait and see’ approach, advancing an interest-based counter-proposal or confidentially developing a negotiation position. By outlining these approaches, the article evaluates the risks and rewards of each, offering insights into how Western and like-minded states can safeguard their interests in potential treaty talks.

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Amnon Aran, Anahita Motazed Rad, and Karen E. Smith

Abstract

Scholarship on women in diplomacy has largely centred on Europe, North America and international organisations, leaving the area known as ‘the Gulf’ as an unexplored area. To address this gap, the article uses feminist institutionalism and Feminist Foreign Policy Analysis to compare women’s representation in diplomacy in Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both countries are patriarchal, authoritarian and illiberal states with legacies of entrenched gender inequality, and the percentage of women ambassadors representing both countries is well below the global average. However, while in Iran only a handful of women ambassadors have ever been appointed, in the UAE, the percentage of women ambassadors almost doubled between 2018 and 2025. The article deploys a most similar systems logic to reveal conditions under which women’s representation in diplomacy can be strengthened in two Gulf countries that are patriarchal, authoritarian and with legacies of entrenched gender inequality. It argues that Iran is a case of ‘patriarchal exclusion’ while the UAE is a case of ‘state-managed inclusion’, and it explains why exclusion persists in Iran but inclusion became possible in the UAE. The findings advance our understanding of women’s representation in diplomacy beyond the West.

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Karoline Färber

Abstract

This article interrogates how diplomats produce diplomatic subjectivities in the German Federal Foreign Office and how this is gendered, raced and classed. It enriches an understanding of diplomatic subjectivities as unstable and plural subject positions (Towns 2022) by examining German diplomats’ everyday practices. Through an institutional ethnography (Smith 2005), it traces material and discursive factors that shape how German diplomats continually contest and reproduce diplomatic subjectivities. This makes it possible to account for the ways in which diplomatic subjectivities are not only gendered but raced and classed. While a relatively stable ruling diplomatic subjectivity emerges – the diplomat as a white man in a heteronormative relationship, who is a generalist and elite because he is the best at what he does – this subjectivity is contested, and its embodiment is fraught and complex.

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Aya Homei and Janina Onuki

Abstract

‘Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls’ is Goal 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG s), but it faces growing threats from far-right anti-feminist movements and divisions among activists. In response, the Forum – the outcome of an interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars from the Global North and South under the project ‘Gender, Identities, and Science Diplomacy in the Global North and South’ – builds on reflections of SDG 5. Most of the contributors first met at the University of São Paulo in July 2023 and then at the University of Manchester in January 2024, when the Forum was conceived. The project later expanded to include new members. Through this collaboration, we concluded that contemporary gender issues at the intersection of science and diplomacy, two domains historically associated with male domination, are deeply historically rooted rather than incidental. We also emphasize the need to represent voices, actions and interactions across the Global North and South to advance gender equality globally in these fields. This Forum therefore brings together historical materials and case studies from both regions that trace important trajectories in gender, science and diplomacy. While the contributions do not always set out explicit policy recommendations, they offer historically grounded perspectives that help reflect on current political challenges and on public policies promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in these fields.

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Luciana Vieira and Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa   

Abstract

The Maison du Brésil is a residence built at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris in the 1950s. It was designed to host Brazilian and international students, researchers, artists, and professors during their exchanges with Parisian institutions. In this paper, we aim to understand the foundation of the Maison du Brésil as a result of efforts by Franco-Brazilian networks of scientists, professors, diplomats, and intellectuals, highlighting the role of non-traditional social actors and non-conventional places of knowledge production. Specifically, we aim to examine the role of the Brazilian feminist, educator, and physiologist Branca de Almeida Fialho, emphasizing how her scientific training, social background, political engagement, and professional trajectory contributed to the network that made the Maison du Brésil in Paris a reality.

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Jing Zhang

Abstract

This article examines how Chinese women diplomats in science and technology (S&T) construct their professional identities and public self-consciousness within the masculinized framework of S&T diplomacy and the historical narrative of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Employing historical narratology, gender studies and critical discourse analysis, this investigation examines intergenerational patterns to reveal how the CPC’s male-centric historical narrative – emphasizing heroism and Party leadership – shapes gendered power dynamics. While this narrative legitimizes women’s roles, it constrains their agency by embedding contributions within collective goals and male authority. Across generations, women anchor their careers in the CPC’s framework, attribute success to external leadership and conform to masculinized norms, with limited expressions of resilience. The article argues that gender is a foundational dimension of power in S&T diplomacy, underscoring the challenges of transcending masculinized constraints for women’s liberation and advocating for equitable diplomatic practices.

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Gordon Barrett

Abstract

While there is a growing body of work on the role of scientists in international affairs, much of this research deals with professional and official interactions. This article argues that gendered personal and intimate dimensions are just as relevant, both for the actors involved and for external perceptions of them. It makes this broader point by focusing on the biochemists Dr Dorothy Moyle Needham and Dr Lu Gwei-djen, both of whom were deeply involved in international activities that helped to cement Dr Joseph Needham’s prominence as a key figure in twentieth-century Anglo-Chinese scientific relations. From their joint work for the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office during the 1940s through later engagement with the People’s Republic of China’s ‘people-to-people diplomacy’, the article demonstrates that gender-related questions of visibility and invisibility are vital to understanding the nature and contexts of science diplomacy.

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Alice Naisbitt

Abstract

In the 1960s, the British Council – founded in 1934 by Foreign Office officials – established itself as a leading actor in Britain’s aid programme, thereby reconfiguring its relationship with the Global South. The Council’s development agenda emphasised science and education, enabling the organisation to advance British interests through actions we now may call science diplomacy. This represented a new form of paternalism rooted in Britain’s colonial history, where knowledge hierarchies and power imbalances were exerted. This article applies a gendered lens to these science programmes, examining how they both reflected and subverted traditional gender roles in both science and diplomacy. The Council’s science initiatives reinforced gendered divisions by excluding women from scientific and diplomatic spheres. However, by reconsidering feminist perspectives on soft power, the article suggests that the Council can be seen to perform a feminised form of diplomacy, similar to the role played by the ‘diplomatic wife’.

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Léa Chloé Glasmeyer

Book reviewed:

• Benedikt Franz, Diplomacy as a Social World: Speech Acts and Role Images in Diplomatic Memoirs (London: Routledge, 2025). Pp. 214. € 152.00 (Hardback). isbn: 978-1-03-285392-5.

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Aman Kumar

Book reviewed:

• Nicholas J. Cull, Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2024). Pp. x+222. $ 69.95 (Hardcover). $ 24.95 (Paperback). $20.00 (eBook). isbn: 978-1-50-955925-1 (Hardcover). isbn: 978-1-50-955926-8 (Paperback). isbn: 978-1-50-955927-5 (eBook).

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