The Contemporary Relevance of the Old vs. the New Diplomacy in Conflict Prevention and Resolution

Kofi Annan successfully re-establishes stability in Kenya, 2008

Traditional diplomacy: Do you think the ‘old’ diplomacy has any contemporary relevance? Explain why you hold your view and refer to contemporary or historical events, with links and images, to illustrate your argument.

Living in a globalised world where information and communication is instant, it has become increasingly difficult for diplomats to carry out their work in accordance with the traditional diplomacy’s ways of secrecy and bilateralism. Even though one cannot help but sympathise with the transparency and inclusiveness which the New and Public Diplomacy brings about, it soon becomes evident that the subsequent multilateralism indeed gives rise to certain complications in international conflict negotiations and that the concept is somewhat of a double-edged sword.

In certain situations of arising or ongoing conflict, direct and bilateral communication between the disputing sides may be argued to be rather counterproductive, as the negotiations often will remain stagnant with the two parties refusing to compromise or trust the intentions of each other. In these cases, involving a third party as a mediator, who openly and transparently works towards a resolution which meets the wishes of both sides, can arguably resolve seemingly unsolvable disputes (www.colorado.edu.)

We saw this form of New Diplomacy function efficiently in Kenya as widespread violence, following the presidential election in December 2007, swept through the country. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan mediated between the fighting parties and successfully re-established stability within Kenya as a power-sharing deal was reached (www.bbc.co.uk and www.cbsnews.com.)

On the other hand, one cannot help but consider the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and especially, in this context, the way in which negotiations and action arguably were immensely destructed by multilateralism.

The United Nations Security Council found agreeing on any kind of action plan, in response to the violence taking place in the small Central African country, to be a serious difficulty, and it is very arguable that the international community’s incapability of co-operating can be directly blamed for causing the unbelievable extent and severity of the human rights abuses which took place (www.globalpolicy.org.) This is an argument which was confirmed by Kofi Annan, who was in charge of the UN’s peacekeeping operations during the genocide, as he years later apologised for the way in which the international community turned their backs on Rwanda (www.cbc.ca.)

So we had the same diplomat, Kofi Annan, striving towards achieving peaceful negotiations in two very different diplomatic situations. Both fit the characteristics of the New Diplomacy but one was successful and one was catastrophic. One may argue that the dividing factor between the two arguably was the number of actors involved in the negotiations, and therefore it may be arguable that few negotiators equal more, desirable, negotiations.

Personally I am a big supporter of inclusiveness in diplomacy in this era of globalisation, and therefore cannot argue completely for the Old Diplomacy as I believe that people are now so aware of the world surrounding them that bilateralism and exclusiveness to an extent is discouraged. However, I cannot help but also suggest that multilateralism and the New Diplomacy, in certain situations of conflict, might hinder a desirable and rapid solution to the violence.

One may remember the saying “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

Shuttle Diplomacy/Mediated Communication (Date Unknown), University of Colorado

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/shuttle.htm

The Hidden Veto (2004), Global Policy

http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/196/42656.html

Deal-broker Annan leaves Kenya (2008), BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7273605.stm

Kofi Annan takes over Kenya Mediation (2008), CBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/10/world/main3695650.shtml

Kofi Annan – Gentleman Diplomat (2009), CBC

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/annan_kofi/