DİPLOMASİ - Deneme Sınavı - 14

The first ministry of foreign affairs in today’s understanding was established in France in the 1620s by Cardinal Richelieu after three centuries from the establishment of modern diplomatic missions.

Diplomatic missions and diplomats act under the protection of immunities granted by the Vienna Convention. There are two types of immunities: immunities of missions and immunities of diplomats. Articles 22nd to 28th regulate immunities of diplomatic missions.

However, professionalization of diplomatic institutions started with the Westphalia Treaty in 1648 after which modern and secular states began to be established. This treaty is regarded as the beginning of modern and secular state formation in diplomatic history. Westphalia Treaty can be considered as the first international conference of the European states which ended Thirty Years War between Habsburgs and Bourbons in 1648. With this treaty, division of Holy Roman Empire into more than three hundred principalities was recognized and the position of France in the European continent strengthened. After Westphalia Treaty, formation of independent states in Europe accelerated.

Besides Renaissance in the 14th century, Reformation which spread Europe from Germany after the 15th century played an important role in the formation of modern diplomacy because it accelerated the secularization of regimes and the formation of modern states in today’s understanding.

After the Napoleonic wars, which shook Europe thoroughly, European states established the Concert of Europe system based on balance of power in 1815 which protected status quo, despite some regional wars, in Europe until WWI.

Concert of Europe

It is a system established in Europe with the Vienna Congress on the basis of balance of power strategy to protect status quo after Napoleonic Wars between 1800 and 1815. In the early 1800s, France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had declared his empire with the fall of Republican regime in France, was fighting with certain European states in order to expand its territories especially eastwards. With the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and Great Britain, European states decided to establish such a system in order to prevent the birth and rule of Napoleon-like figures and states. Concert of Europe system worked until the First World War (WWI) despite some regional conflicts and wars. However, with the polarization in the early 1900s, this system was replaced by alliances and divisions that paved the way for WWI.

The Cold War was another turning point in the evolution of modern diplomacy. Despite the existence of nuclear threat stemmed from proliferation of nuclear weapons and the feeling of insecurity throughout the world, diplomacy became an integral part of Cold War politics especially in the form of summit diplomacy between two superpowers. Therefore, diplomatic institutions and instruments have been professionalized since the beginning of the Cold War with the unprecedented development of globalization. Bilateral and multilateral negotiations and summits have jointly become the platform of inter-state relations. Institutionally, ministries of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions are still basic institutions of diplomacy. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Multi-National Companies (MNCs) have become essential parts of diplomacy in the global age.

Bilateral diplomacy is conducted between two states, but, initially, these two states have to recognize each other to establish diplomatic missions and carry out diplomatic practice. Recognition means the acceptance of the existence of a state as an independent and sovereign entity in the international arena. Recognition consists two rights of a state: domestically it has to enjoy full sovereignty over its territories, internationally it has to be independent from any other state. Moreover, membership to the 0 (UN) is another criterion for recognition. UN membership is an indicator of global recognition and today almost all states with full sovereignty and independence are members of UN. On the other hand, according to the second article of the Vienna Convention, which was accepted in 1961 and determines the rules, instruments and institutions of diplomacy, diplomatic relations between states have to be based on “mutual consent.” Recognition is a part of “mutual consent”, but recognition and diplomacy do not always go hand-in-hand. More clearly, states may recognize each other, but not carry out diplomatic relations.

Multilateral diplomacy is literally defined as diplomatic relations between more than two states. It is also known as “conference diplomacy” or “parliamentary diplomacy” because multilateral diplomatic relations are mainly conducted through conferences and face-to-face interaction between leaders or missions of states.

There are many advantages of multilateral conferences like focusing on specific issues and motivating the parties to find a solution or reach an agreement in a limited period of time. As a result of collaboration among participants, it develops closer relations between states. Finding a solution or reaching an agreement is beneficial for all parties because it increases their prestige and popularity. Due to the limited period of time, multilateral conferences force parties to focus on specific issues and come up with solutions. (İskit, 307-308) On the other hand, multilateral conferences are used by powerful states to make their propaganda as dominant states in the international arena as well as drawing the attention of all states to global problems such as environmental and economic issues. Joining such conferences and organizations increase the prestige of participants. On the contrary, states not joining these multilateral entities may lose their prestige and the right to have a say in ultimate decisions. Non-participating states may suffer from the decisions made against them in these conferences. Therefore, all the states having an interest in such meetings push hard for participation. Furthermore, multilateral diplomacy provides a medium for the development of bilateral relations because through bilateral meetings or social events during multilateral conferences such as NATO and EU meetings, heads or missions of states may develop their contacts and relations. Lastly, multilateral conferences may ensure compliance with agreements or decisions made by the states better than bilateral ones due to the pressure of other states and world public opinion.

Regular summits provide basis for negotiations, but their success is based on the frequency and duration. Frequently organized and long meetings enable the participants to reach some conclusions and solve problems. Moreover, due to the length of such meetings, there is room for re-negotiation unless parties don’t reach a conclusion in the first trial. In time, as these summits are regularly convened, their principles are specified and their efficiency increases. More importantly, regular meetings allow leaders to prepare before sessions and learn details of issues discussed in these meetings as well as characteristics and tendencies of their counterparts. Summits are effective tools to conclude negotiations discussed in international forums successfully. In order to reach conclusions satisfactory for both sides, leaders push hard for succeed in these summits, so the “diplomatic momentum” between two summits continues. Regular meetings of European Union (EU) leaders are important examples of these meetings.

Ad hoc summits, on the other hand, are convened to solve specific problems or discuss specific issues as well as to create diplomatic momentum. Camp David meetings in 1978 led by Jimmy Carter to discuss peace settlement between Egypt and Israel with the participation of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin can be regarded as an example of ad hoc summit. After twelve days of negotiations, both sides agreed on signing a peace agreement. Main objective of an ad hoc summit is to create a symbolic milestone for solution of a specific problem between states. Another example of ad hoc summits is funeral ceremonies of leaders. In these summits, leaders and their missions meet and discuss certain issues as well as develop their relations.

Lastly, high-level meetings can be defined as meetings of leaders within the context of their official visits. Especially, newly elected leaders visit foreign countries and meet their counterparts. Such visits provide information about policies and characteristics and opinions of their counterparts. In addition, leaders aim at developing friendly relations and economic relations with the host country. To sum up, like bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, summit diplomacy is an important instrument of modern diplomacy. However, it needs to be underlined that these instruments are not mutually-exclusive. In other words, summit diplomacy can be used as a part of bilateral or multilateral diplomacy. Like bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, summit diplomacy has some advantages and disadvantages. The efficiency of these diplomatic instruments depend on the power and capabilities of states as well as the institutions using these instruments. Diplomatic missions, ministries of foreign affairs and non-state actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multi-national companies (MNCs) are basic institutions of modern diplomacy.

Westphalia Treaty This treaty is regarded as the beginning of modern and secular state formation in diplomatic history. Westphalia Treaty can be considered as the first international conference of the European states which ended Thirty Years War between Habsburgs and Bourbons in 1648. With this treaty, division of Holy Roman Empire into more than three hundred principalities was recognized and the position of France in the European continent strengthened. After Westphalia Treaty, formation of independent states in Europe accelerated.

League of Nations was the predecessor of the United Nations which was established by the victorious states of WWI on January 10, 1920. The Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States were the main actors in this system. It was established to protect world peace and solve problems among states. However, due to its internal problems like strategies and policies of its main actors towards the losers of WWI, it became futile less than two decades. With its inability to prevent Italian invasion of Abyssinia, Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Nazi invasion of Austria and Czechoslovakia, the prestige of the institution dramatically decreased and these developments resulted in the eruption of WWII.

Concert of Europe is a system established in Europe with the Vienna Congress on the basis of balance of power strategy to protect status quo after Napoleonic Wars between 1800 and 1815. In the early 1800s, France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had declared his empire with the fall of Republican regime in France, was fighting with certain European states in order to expand its territories especially eastwards. With the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and Great Britain, European states decided to establish such a system in order to prevent the birth and rule of Napoleon-like figures and states. Concert of Europe system worked until the First World War (WWI) despite some regional conflicts and wars. However, with the polarization in the early 1900s, this system was replaced by alliances and divisions that paved the way for WWI.

Bilateral diplomacy is the oldest form of diplomatic practice consisting of two states meeting to solve their problems. Bilateral diplomacy is conducted between two states, but, initially, these two states have to recognize each other to establish diplomatic missions and carry out diplomatic practice. Until the end of WWI, bilateral diplomacy kept its hegemony in the international relations.

Multilateral diplomacy is literally defined as diplomatic relations between more than two states. It is also known as “conference diplomacy” or “parliamentary diplomacy” because multilateral diplomatic relations are mainly conducted through conferences and face-to-face interaction between leaders or missions of states.

After WWI, the Allies which defeated Entente powers agreed on the establishment of a multilateral organization to protect world peace and collective security. In addition, they sought for creating a basis for solution of problems via discussion among states. As a result, League of Nations (LoN) was established in 1920 to provide such a basis for multilateralism.

United Nations This institution was created by the victorious states of WWII which defeated Fascism and its expansionist policies. Main actors in the UN are the United States, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the Great Britain, France and China. The basic objective of the UN is to protect sovereignty of its member states and world peace. However, when the crises and regional wars in the world since its establishment are taken into consideration, it can be securely argued that the UN has reached its aims far from ideally. This stems from its internal problems like the veto rights of the permanent members of the Security Council. (five states stated above) Especially during the Cold War, it became a leverage between superpowers to legitimize their actions and put pressure on each other. Today, the UN has about two hundred members and it has various branches like UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund), UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), WFP (World Food Programme), etc. dealing with certain world problems

First professional ministry was established in France in the early 17th century.