Conventional diplomacy builds on the implicit acceptance of norms and agreements. In recent decades, however, both state and non-state actors have increasingly challenged such established diplomatic practice. They not only pursue diverging interests, but also seek to actively undermine negotiations and the creation of consensus through obfuscation, denials, or simulated compliance with international norms. Especially because such practices of resistance are relevant to authoritarian and conflict contexts, we need to better understand them and identify ways to deal with them.
In this Web Talk, we will examine these issues with the authors of chapters on counter-diplomacy and empathy in diplomacy from a recent co-edited volume on new perspectives on diplomacy. Together with them, we will discuss their findings and the lessons they have learned for principled and effective diplomacy.
Speakers:
Dr. Gerrit Kurtz
Research Fellow, Conflict Prevention and Diplomacy in Africa, DGAP
Dr. Claire Yorke
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Grand Strategy, King’s College London
Moderator:
Dr. Roderick Parkes
Research Director and Head of the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies, DGAP
The chapters are part of the volume New Perspectives on Diplomacy: A New Theory and Practice of Diplomacy edited by J.E. Spence, Claire Yorke, and Alastair Masser (I.B. Tauris, 2021).
Please register here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Web Talk via Zoom.
The Web Talk will be public. Participants will be able to ask questions via Zoom’s question and answer function as well as by using their microphones during the discussion. You will find information related to data processing at https://dgap.org/de/zoom. Please note that this event will not be recorded.