RELATIONS BETWEEN STATES
GENERAL
What do we mean by relations between states?
Relations between states is a political activity whose main expression is diplomacy; i.e., it is a positive political activity that usually enhances the lines of communication between governments.
The persons engaged in diplomacy are diplomats and they generally strive to keep countries on good terms with each other.
Keep in mind though that nations seem almost to have human personalities and react as if they were human beings; in a sense, they do have a collective personality. Because of this, and because of historians' past emphasis on "the news," it seems that nations are more at war than at peace with each other.
Normal relations between various political and economic entities are carried on:
-between (nation) states
-between states and corporations
-between territorial subgroupings (province, gubernia, Laender)
and nations and/or corporations
Non-normal relationships are:
-"cold wars"
-wars
SPECIFICS ABOUT DIPLOMACY
Who participates in the shaping of relationship between states?
-Chief of State
-Prime Minister
-Minister of foreign affairs/Sec. of State in U.S.
-Diplomats
-Tourists
-Businesspeople
-Corporate entities
-Media
-Athletes
What is a diplomat?
He or she
-acts as liason between two countries
-represents one country to another
-engages in diverse activities, i.e., gives advice to
other countries and gathers information for her/his
employer
-sometimes acts as a spy
-usually tries to keep peace between countries
-on rare occasions engages in warlike activities.
What are the qualifications of ambassadors/diplomats?
The ideal foreign service officer:
-should be in context with the society s/he serves
-be well-educated, especially with a background in the
humanities, law, economics, even the sciences
-be able to think, write and speak clearly
-be capable of getting a security clearance
-needs to know several languages
-have the ability to adapt easily to other societies and
cultures
-serve an apprenticeship in the service
-have the ability to handle her/himself in difficult
situations
-be willing to take in much "on-the-job" training.
Most diplomats are still engaged in what one calls, arbitrarily, traditional diplomacy.
One of the functions of diplomats remains information gathering. Information gathering is the most important task for political and corporate diplomats
These activities may be sorted in the following fashion:
- empirical--going after facts
- normative--developing suppositions/policy options
- policy science--making of policy based on the past.
It is argued that a diplomat should always be ahead or just behind other diplomats in gathering vital information for his/her employer.
Most (traditional) information gathering is boring--must watch TV or read news-papers for long periods of time.
Translation, computer work, and analysis are involved also.
Spying belongs here, but even if it is exciting it is not necessarily the most important activity of diplomats.
How do diplomats gain public support for their policies?
-through the reputation and success of their past policies
-through the reputation and success of the agency for whom
they work
-through concentration on popular issues
-through policies which cater to the public interest
-through exploiting public ignorance on issues.
What recent developments have occured in diplomacy?
One such development is industrial diplomacy, that is,
traditional diplomats are not as significant in
representing and reporting as they were in the
nineteenth century or earlier parts of this century.
Also, some corporations are as big, or bigger, than the
governments of many countries (examples: GM, ITT, IBM)
and thus act as if they were states.
Many countries are now dealing with corporations
directly, i.e., enter what would appear to be a
diplomatic relationship.
Embassy personnel is assisting by spying and getting
information on corporations.
A FEW POINTS ABOUT THE PROGRESSION OF DIPLOMACY
Sixteenth century -
Permanent embassies developed by the leadership in Venice and Milan, Italy, and that in France, before spreading to other countries. The initial purpose of diplomats was to travel (not stay permanently) to other countries, report back home, and try to influence the policies of the host state. The men engaged in this work had various ways to obtaining information, such as getting close to the court or the king, influencing with money, and offering information of interest to the hosts. The men involved were usually close to the person who sent them and he/she could trust them implicitly. The initial language of diplomacy was Italian.
Eighteenth century -
Most countries by then were represented abroad by permanent embassies.
Diplomatic staffs enjoyed diplomatic immunity from the legal systems of the host countries. By then, too, there was a trend toward specialization in training for diplomatic service (e.g., military specialists, economic advisors). Yet, the major diplomats were still very close to their king/queen and knew the policies that he or she pursued. French had become the official diplomatic language.
Twentieth century -
Diplomatic staffs have increased enormously.
Diplomacy is now influenced by the threat of nuclear weapons, corporate blossoming, and terrorism. Communication systems force diplomats to make split-second decisions. This at a time when the distance between the diplomat and the policy maker (a chancellor, for example) has grown much greater. English is presently the official language.
OTHER HISTORICAL DETAILS
- Since the beginning, secret languages were used by diplomats to correspond with their home base and vice versa.
- Letters that went back and forth were sent by couriers who were sometimes hijacked in order for the leaders of the host country to read these letters.
- By the twentieth century, specialization of diplomats was in response to specializiation in societies as a whole.
- Since World War II especially, corporations have began behaving as if they were states. Now one finds representatives of countries and corporations going to and from and traversing a country. A corporation's negotiations are just as complex as those of states. (An example of such negotiation is the sale of a Chevrolet (GM) Geo Prizm in the U.S.; this car is all Japanese in design, actually a Toyota, put together in the U.S. and given an American label.)
- The major change in the 1950s was that war and diplomacy began to interact constantly: i.e., when war begins, diplomats continue to talk. Diplomats used to stop talking when war began.
The complexity of each of these topics can be illustrated through communications' possibilities -
Kings used diplomats to negotiate because
- the distances seemed so much greater,
- it was difficult to travel, and
- there was little protection for travellers.
- Also, diplomats could make mistakes, kings could not. - Thus, the diplomat was needed to assist the communication between rulers and their countries. They negotiated for the monarch and had to know exactly what the s/he wanted, since they could only negotiate up to a certain point and then had to stop.
Now, with the computer and the telephone, diplomats can call up and ask questions concerning a certain set of nego- tiations. In addition, negotiations are no longer completely private. Because of the increasing "publicness" of negotiations, representatives sometimes lose their traditional function. It is much easier to negotiate point for point if the public is not following every move. Representatives are less likely to reach an agreement if disturbed or distracted. Thus when the President publicly negotiates, he is:
- trying to gain public support, campaigning,
- taking the job of diplomat into his own hands, and
- making the activities of the diplomat more stressful.
We now have a situation in many countries in that
diplomacy is hampered by:
--the lack of direct access of diplomats to top-level
decision makers, and
--the interference of many intermediate agencies
and bodies specializing in policy design
and maintenance.
E.g.
USSR--The Prime Minister and the Politburo are responsible
for the formation of the foreign policy of the USSR;
but it since it has had few foreign ministers, the
country has been able to design and maintain a fairly
uniform policy.
USA --While the president is the chief force in the
formation of foreign policy, the National Security
Adviser's office, the Secretary of State's office,
the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, the
military, and the public also affect, often through
direct interference, the formulation and outcomes of
U.S. foreign policy.
A great issue for a time was:
what does a host country do with a diplomat who committs a crime in that country?
If a diplomat commits a crime in another country his or her career is ruined because of the responsibilities of diplomatic immunity imply the following for those who enjoy it: crimes committed by foreign diplomats are the problem of the country which selected and sent them. Host countries provide labor and security for visiting diplomats, but do not interfere with internal law inforcement.
TWO FAMOUS HISTORICAL EXAMPLES
Bismarck-
He was one of the most famous diplomats of the nineteenth century. He grew up in a wealthy Prussian family, and both parents were well-educated. At home he learned two foreign languages, French and English. He did not do well in school, though he attended university. He loved to drink, fight, and fence. He attended the Frankfurt Assembly in 1848 after the European Revolutions. There he represented Prussia, and finally realized how important his job could be. The assembly started because many Germans wanted a body to represent them. The major problem for the assembly was to decide who would be given the German imperial crown. The choices were between an Austrian and a Prussian emperor. Bismarck did not want Austria, with so many Hungarians in its populace, to become dominant. His choice was a Prussian emperor. But Austria argued that, since they speak German also, they should be included. Bismarck won the disagreement, and in 1849 the Imperial crown was offered to the Prussian king. He turned it down.
Bismarck now became an ambassador. In the late 1850s, he moved to Russia and stayed there until 1862. He was a good ambassador and always knew how to handle problems with other countries. His main concern was with invasion of Prussia from both sides. As long as he was in power after this
service, he made sure Russia and Prussia were on good terms. There were positive ties between France and Russia also. Bismarck went to France as the ambassador for a time, but he disliked it.
He then became foreign minister of Prussia. The problem continued with Austria; Prussia still wanted control of Germany, but on its own terms. Bismarck's job was to integrate Germany into Prussia. In the early 1860s, Prussia had a small war against Austria in the lower parts of Denmark, and Austria lost. Then Prussia and Austria fought a major war in 1866 in which Austria was defeated. The war took place in July and August and that is how it got the title Six Weeks War. During this war, Bismarck worked on the army, got the population behind him, and made sure no outsiders got involved in the war. In 1870, he maneuvered France into a war with Prussia. Prussia very quickly defeated France and even caught the emporer on the battlefield. With this coup, Bismarck attained German unification--on his terms.
He now became Prime Minister of Germany. In the 1880s, he tried to keep Russia and France apart. France allied with Austria. Long after his resignation, at the beginning of the twentieth century, France also became allied with Russia. Bismarck's fears had came true.
Henry Kissinger-
He was born into a Jewish family in F}rth, a small city outside N}rnberg, Germany. His father was a teacher in a girls' gymnasium. His mother was a housewife.
When the Nazis became more and more aggressive toward Jews, the Kissingers left Germany for New York. This was in 1938 and after Mr. Kissinger had lost his teaching position due to Hitler's policies. After World War II, Kissinger went to Harvard and made straight A's in History. As his dissertation, he wrote a book about Metternich, a famous nineteenth-century Austrian diplomat. He then started a Foreign Policy Institute. Governor Nelson Rockefeller discoverd him there. Kissinger felt drawn to Rockefeller and his enthusiasm for the good of this country. He joined Rockefeller's foreign policy team, and they became very close. Richard Nixon discovered Kissinger as one of Rockefeller's friends and brought him into his government as National Security Advisor. Nixon wanted to restructure our relationship with the People's Republic of China. Together, they reopened relations with China. Kissinger felt it was absolutely necessary for us to have good relations with China and the Soviet Union. He also wanted to try and open up all channels with the Soviets. Kissinger perceived his role as someone who keeps peace.
Kissinger was first National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State. Since then he has headed various
commissions to solve problems. Most recently he wrote an article for TIME in which he talked about the reforms needed in NATO.
Conservatives usually do not like him because of his policies toward China and the Soviet Union; liberals do not like him because of his Vietnam record.
Kissinger instituted several major innovations. For example, he set up a Crisis Task Force. The CTF included representatives from various government agencies who could handle all sorts of crises and disasters. Because of their expertise and their high rank, they could resolve problems very quickly. Although the CTF operated separately from the President's cabinet, its members reported to the cabinet.
 
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