Diplomacy : theory and practice

317 Pages·2022·3.085 MB·English

by  Geoff Berridge

. .
g r b e r r i d g e
D I P L O M A C Y

t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e
Diplomacy
“Probably the most prolific contemporary writer on diplomacy is Professor Geoff
R. Berridge. Each of his many books is impeccably well written and full of insights
into the fascinating formation of modern diplomacy.”
—Robert William Dry, New York University, USA, and Chairman of AFSA’s
Committee on the Foreign Service Profession and Ethics
“I discovered Geoff Berridge’s book on diplomacy after serving as a diplomat for over
30 years. It is well-researched, sophisticated, inspiring and, where the subject invites
it, suitably ironic. I used the 4th edition with my students and will now continue
working with the 5th edition.”
—Dr Max Schweizer, Head Foreign Affairs and Applied Diplomacy, ZHAW School of
Management and Law, Switzerland
“Berridge’s Diplomacy is an enlightening journey that takes the student, the practitio-
ner and the general reader from the front to the backstage of current diplomatic
practice. The thoroughly updated and expanded text—also enriched with a stimulat-
ing new treatment of embassies—is an invaluable guide to the stratagems and out-
comes, continuities and innovations, of a centuries’ long process.”
—Arianna Arisi Rota, Professor of History of Diplomacy at the University of
Pavia, Italy
“This is an excellent text-book which fills a gap in the current writing on diplomacy.”
—Lord Wright of Richmond, Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign
Office (UK), 1986–91
“This book remains the best introduction to the subject.”
—Alan Henrikson, Director of Diplomatic Studies, The Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, USA
“Berridge is the leading authority on contemporary diplomatic practice.”
—Laurence E. Pope, former US ambassador and senior official at the Department
of State
“Berridge’s study of diplomacy is the standard text on the subject—succinct yet sub-
stantial in content, lucid in style.”
—John W. Young, Professor of International History, University of Nottingham, UK
G. R. Berridge
Diplomacy
Theory and Practice
G. R. Berridge
Politics and International Relations
University of Leicester
Leicester, UK
DiploFoundation
Geneva, Switzerland
ISBN 978-3-030-85930-5 ISBN 978-3-030-85931-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85931-2
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Also by G. R. Berridge
BRITISH DIPLOMACY IN TURKEY, 1583 TO THE PRESENT: A Study in the
Evolution of the Resident Embassy
BRITISH HEADS OF MISSION AT CONSTANTINOPLE, 1583–1922
THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN DIPLOMACY and Other Essays
DIPLOMACY AND SECRET SERVICE: A Short Introduction
DIPLOMACY AT THE UN (co-editor with A. Jennings)
THE DIPLOMACY OF ANCIENT GREECE: A Short Introduction
DIPLOMATIC CLASSICS: Selected Texts from Commynes to Vattel
DIPLOMATIC THEORY FROM MACHIAVELLI TO KISSINGER (with
Maurice Keens-Soper, and T. G. Otte)
A DIPLOMATIC WHISTLEBLOWER IN THE VICTORIAN ERA: The Life
and Writings of E. C. Grenville-Murray
ECONOMIC POWER IN ANGLO-SOUTH AFRICAN DIPLOMACY:
Simonstown, Sharpeville and After
EMBASSIES IN ARMED CONFLICT
GERALD FITZMAURICE (1865–1939), CHIEF DRAGOMAN OF THE
BRITISH EMBASSY IN TURKEY
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: States, Power and Conflict since 1945,
Third Edition
AN INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (with D. Heater)
THE PALGRAVE MACMILLAN DICTIONARY OF DIPLOMACY: Third
Edition (with Lorna Lloyd)
THE POLITICS OF THE SOUTH AFRICA RUN: European Shipping and
Pretoria
RETURN TO THE UN: UN Diplomacy in Regional Conflicts
SOUTH AFRICA, THE COLONIAL POWERS AND ‘AFRICAN DEFENCE’:
The Rise and Fall of the White Entente, 1948–60
TALKING TO THE ENEMY: How States without ‘Diplomatic Relations’
Communicate
TILKIDOM AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: The Letters of Gerald
Fitzmaurice to George Lloyd
For Jack Spence
Preface and Acknowledgments
This edition of Diplomacy: Theory and Practice has been updated throughout
and—despite the excision of some long passages that I concluded were either
out of place or no longer important—considerably expanded. With the
Covid-19 pandemic in mind and because I had ignored it in previous edi-
tions, health diplomacy finds a major place for illustrative purposes. Among
other subjects new to this edition are capacity-building in following up,
embassy branch offices, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
interpreters at summits, and—unavoidably—the diplomatic implications of
former US President Donald J. Trump. Subjects covered in the previous edi-
tion but to which increased attention is given in this one include the use of
embassies for transnational repression, video-conferencing, Twitter, intelli-
gence officers on special missions, and the variation in representative offices
by degree of diplomatic status.
An innovation to which I must give special notice is the addition at the end
of each chapter of a list of ‘Topics for seminar discussion or essays’. This draws
not only on my teaching career but also on my long experience of vetting
draft exam questions while an external examiner at five British universities. A
good question should be short and clear—and provoke thought, which is
therefore what I have tried to achieve on these lists. A few cautions: first, very
few of these questions can be answered well by reliance on this book alone,
hence the ‘Further reading’; second, some questions overlap, which does not
matter unless they are used by a lecturer setting an exam; and third, most lists
feature a comparative question (e.g., ‘Compare the roles of Austria and
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x Preface and Acknowledgments
Switzerland in conflict resolution’ in the chapter on mediation), for advice on
answering which, as well as on other points, see ‘7 common pitfalls to avoid
in writing essays and dissertations’ on my website.
In order to give better guidance on further reading at the end of each chap-
ter, here and there I have annotated the works listed. Other things being
equal, I have also given preference to sources freely available on the Internet.
As in earlier editions, I have avoided providing URLs for such sources, partly
because they are often so long, partly because they tend to change or disap-
pear, and partly because it is usually easy enough to find a web resource via a
search engine; I simply add ‘[www]’ to a reference available on the Internet at
the time of writing, although a few might be behind paywalls.
I do not believe that footnotes or endnotes are appropriate for a textbook.
However, sources for quotations must be provided and I do this by means of
in-text citations of full references to be found at the end of the book. Also,
where a box relies chiefly on primary sources I provide these at the foot of the
box itself.
The sources for unreferenced recent events are usually serious news agencies
such as Reuters, news websites such as Politico, and online versions of newspa-
pers such as The Guardian (which has no paywall). For many points in the
text, the sources are my own earlier writings or works listed in ‘Further read-
ing’ that should be fairly obvious. Works listed in ‘References’ at the end of
the book include all those cited in the text, together with the more important
among those on which I have drawn that are not listed in ‘Further reading’. In
providing book titles, it is an idiosyncrasy of mine that I put the name of the
publisher before place of publication, because I find this intuitive and because
publishers have been doing the same thing on the title pages of their own
books for well over half a century. (Students beware! You will probably incur
the wrath of your tutors if you follow my example.)
As usual, I have prepared the Index myself. Due to production difficulties
and space limitations, it is much shorter than before and I have concentrated
the entries on diplomatic activity, procedures and institutions at the expense
of countries and—with notable exceptions—persons. I believe the Index is
not seriously the worse for its relative brevity.
For valuable observations on parts of the text of this edition, I am grateful
to Christiaan Sys, Petru Dumitriu, John W. Young, Keith Hamilton, and my
daughter Willow Berridge. For sharing with me raw data from her research on
health attachés, I am in debt to Sabrina Luh. I must also mention Jelena
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Jakovljevic, who has for many years expertly managed my website, on which
the book is updated. Finally, I wish to thank most warmly the two anony-
mous readers of my proposal for this edition for giving me valuable ideas that
have shaped the final draft and Anne-Kathrin Birchley-Brun of the publisher
for her patient and prompt support throughout. The responsibility for all
remaining deficiencies is mine alone.
Leicester, UK G. R. Berridge
May 2021
Online Updating
For each chapter in the book there is a corresponding page on my website,
which is hosted by DiploFoundation. These pages contain further reflections,
any corrections needed, and details of recent developments. Among other
things, the website also has pages on ideas for dissertation and thesis topics,
primary sources for study, recommended reading, and advice on essay and
dissertation writing. Please visit http://grberridge.diplomacy.edu/ Links to
other sites/organizations made to the content of this book by the publisher do
not necessarily reflect the views of the author.
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