Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War

230 Pages·1997·22.624 MB·English

by  Andrew F. Cooper

NICHE DIPLOMACY
STUDIES IN DIPLOMACY
General Editor: G. R. Berridge, Centre for the Study of Diplomacy,
University of Leicester
The series was launched in 1994. Its chief purpose is to encourage
original scholarship on the theory and practice of international
diplomacy, including its legal regulation. The interests of the series thus
embrace such diplomatic functions as signalling, negotiation and
consular work and methods such as summitry and the multilateral
conference. Whilst it has sharp focus on diplomacy at the expense of
foreign policy, therefore, the series has no prejudice as to historical
period or approach. It also aims to include manuals on protocol and other
aspects of diplomatic practice which will be of immediate, day-to-day
relevance to professional diplomats. A final ambition is to reprint
inaccessible classic works on diplomacy.
Titles include
Andrew F. Cooper (editor)
NICHE DIPLOMACY: Middle Powers after the Cold War
David H. Dunn (editor)
DIPLOMACY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL: The Evolution of
International Summitry
M. J. Peterson
RECOGNITION OF GOVERNMENTS: Legal Doctrine and State
Practice, 1815-1995
Gary D. Rawnsley (editor)
RADIO DIPLOMACY AND PROPAGANDA: The BBC and VOA in
International Politics, 1956-64
Niche Diplomacy
Middle Powers after the Cold War
Edited by
Andrew F. Cooper
Professor of Political Science
University of Waterloo
Ontario. Canada
First published in Great Britain 1997 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-25904-5 ISBN 978-1-349-25902-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-25902-1
First published in the United States of America 1997 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-17622-8
Libmry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Niche diplomacy: middle powers after the Cold War I edited by Andrew
F. Cooper.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Niche diplomacy, a conceptual overview I Andrew F.
Cooper - Issues, institutions and middle power diplomacy, action
and agendas in the Post-Cold War I Richard Higgott - Middle powers
as managers, international mediation within, across and out~ide
institutions I Alan K. Henrikson - Canada as a middle power. the
case of peacekeeping I Geoffrey Hayes - Between realis.(1l and
qusader diplomacy, the Norwegian Channel to Jericho I Oyvind
Osterud - Addressing apartheid, lessons from australian, canadian
and swedish policies in southern Africa I David R. Black - Finding
your niche, Australia and the trials of middle powerdom I Brian
Hocking - Mahathir's Malaysia, an emerging middle power? I Kim
Richard Nossal and Richard Stubbs - Middle powers and regionalism
in the Americas, the ca.~s of Argentina and Mexico I Louis Belanger
and Gordon Mace -Turkey, a middle power in the New Order I Mellem
Miiftiiler and Miiberra Yiiksel - South Africa, understanding the
upstairs and the downstairs I Peter Vale.
ISBN 978-0-312-17622-8
I. World politics-I 989- I. Cooper, Andrew Fenton, 1950-
D860.N47 1997
327.I'72-dc21 97-8584
CIP
Selection, editorial matter and Chapter I © Andrew F. Cooper 1997
Chapters 2-11 © Macmillan Press Ltd 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1997
All right~ reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
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or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patenl~ Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10987654321
06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
List oj Contributors viii
1 Niche Diplomacy: A Conceptual Overview
Andrew F. Cooper 1
2 Issues, Institutions and Middle-Power Diplomacy: Action
and Agendas in the Post-Cold War Era
Richard Higgott 25
3 Middle Powers as Managers: International Mediation
within, across and outside Institutions
Alan K. Henrikson 46
4 Canada as a Middle Power: The Case of Peacekeeping
Geoffrey Hayes 73
5 Between Realism and 'Crusader Diplomacy': The
Norwegian Channel to Jericho
~~~~ W
6 Addressing Apartheid: Lessons from Australian, Canadian
and Swedish Policies in Southern Africa
David R. Black 100
7 Finding Your Niche: Australia and the Trials of
Middle-Powerdom
Brian Hocking 129
8 Mahathir's Malaysia: An Emerging Middle Power?
Kim Richard Nossal and Richard Stubbs 147
9 Middle Powers and Regionalism in the Americas: The
Cases of Argentina and Mexico
Louis Belanger and Gordon Mace 164
10 Turkey: A Middle Power in the New Order
Meltem MUftUler and MUberra YUksel 184
11 South Africa: Understanding the Upstairs and the Downstairs
Peter Vale 197
Index 215
v
Acknowl edgements
It is the aim of this volume to examine the nature of middle-power diplo
macy in the post-Cold War era. The logic and importance of this compara
tive analysis emerged from an earlier study of Australian and Canadian
behaviour in the international arena. Covering the period to the end of the
Cold War, this work demonstrated how a distinct style of middle-power
diplomacy - exhibiting both commonality and difference - had evolved in
these two countries. The breakdown of the bi-polar structures of the Cold
War era enhances the importance of refining and expanding this research
project. By extending the focus beyond the original subjects, important
insights are offered concerning the involvement of other similarly located
states in international relations within the context of the expanding global
agenda of the 1990s. The project has therefore both an important con
ceptual and policy-relevant dimension.
The edited collection grew out of a round table, organized by the
University of Waterloo, the Canadian Institute of International Affairs,
and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. This round table brought
together a number of academics and practitioners to discuss the role of
middle-power diplomacy, Subsequently, a number of other academics
with specific expertise were brought into the project.
A large number of debts have been incurred in the process of putting the
collection together. It must be mentioned at the outset that the project
received financial support from the Cooperative Security Competition
Program, through the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, as well as from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council. Special thanks also must be given to John English, who
did so much to mentor the project through its formative stages.
This volume has also been much improved because of the generosity of
a number of individuals who provided their comments and suggestions.
These include Eric Bergbusch, the Rt Hon. Joe Clark, Norman Hillmer,
Monica Hirst, Margaret Karns, Leonid Leshchenko, Laura Neack,
Mohamed Sahnoun, Jean-Philippe Therien, Jochen Thies, Diana Tussie,
and Charles Weitz.
I would like to thank the General Editors, G.R. Berridge and John
W. Young, and Gniinne Twomey and Sunder Katwala at Macmillan, for
their interest and support. Joanne Voisin and Mary-Lou Schagena from
the Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo, diligently
vi
Acknowledgements vii
inputted the chapters. Geoffrey Hayes and Brian Orend helped consider
ably with the arrangements for the round table. John M. Smith copy-edited
the manuscript with considerable efficiency.
Putting together a transnational academic coalition is a worthy but
complex endeavour. Richard Higgott and Kim Richard Nossal were instru
mental in launching the project. Brian Hocking served as a valuable inter
locutor. The enthusiasm and hard work of all the contributors allowed the
project to be completed.
ANDREW F. COOPER
List of Contributors
Louis Belanger, Department of Political Science, Laval University
David R. Black, Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University
Andrew F. Cooper, Department of Political Science, University of
Waterloo
Geoffrey Hayes, Department of History, University of Waterloo
Alan K. Henrikson, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts
University
Richard Higgott, Department of Politics and International Studies,
University of Warwick
Brian Hocking, School of International Studies and Law, Coventry
University
Gordon Mace, Department of Political Science, Laval University
Meltem Miiftiiler, Department of Political Science, Bilkent University
Kim Richard Nossal, Department of Political Science, McMaster
University
Oyvind Osterud, Institute of Political Science, University of Oslo
Richard Stubbs, Department of Political Science, McMaster University
Peter Vale, Centre for Southern African Studies, University of the
Western Cape
Miiberra Yiiksel, Department of Political Science, Bilkent University
viii
1 Niche Diplomacy: A
Conceptual Overview
Andrew F. Cooper
Amidst the major transformation of the global system after the Cold War,
the study of international relations has maintained a predominantly top
down orientation. This apex-centred focus comes out most clearly in the
important debates concerning the demise of the Soviet Union and the
hegemonic role of the United States of America (USA).1 The same
perspective is also evident in the preoccupation in the international rela
tions literature with specific aspects of the post-Cold War settlement,
namely German reunification, USA-Japanese and USA-European econ
omic and strategic relations, as well as the questions of leadership in the
evolution of regionalism in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.2 Given the
marked capacity of the major powers to affect events and structure, this
mode of analysis rests on a solid foundation. The rationale of this book,
however, is that there is a need to stretch the parameters of scholarly atten
tion away from the restrictive confines of this dominant approach. At the
core of this argument is the salience of looking at alternative sources of
agency in order to more fully capture the evolving complexity in global
affairs. While not suggesting that structural leadership by great powers is
no longer the most important source of initiative in the international order
of the 1990s, the introduction of a wider lens is deemed crucial if the
processes of reform and change - especially those requiring considerable
cooperation and collaboration - in a variety of issue areas on the inter
national agenda for the 1990s are to be fully understood. Such a role may
be performed by appropriately qualified secondary powers in an appreci
ably different way than in the past. While readily acknowledging that the
term 'middle powers' is problematic both in terms of conceptual clarity
and operational coherence, this category of countries does appear to have
some accentuated space for diplomatic manoeuvre on a segmented basis in
the post-Cold War era.
Underpinning this discussion is the larger set of questions encompass
ing what is meant by leadership on the edge of the twenty-first century. A
requisite here is a more balanced type of examination which takes into
account the transitory nature of the international system, caught between
the erosion of the old post-1945 order and an ill-defined new order. As
1