DI

PLOMACY:
FUNCTI
ONSANDLI
MITATI
ONS

I
NTRODUCTI
ON
Thet erm dipl
omacyhast wopr i
ncipalmeani ngs.Fir
stl
y,diplomacyisusedi nthe
senseofmeansormet hodofconduct i
ngt hef or
eignpolicyofanat i
on.Secondly,
dipl
omacyi sal sousedt or
efertotheprocessoff ormulat
ionandconductoff orei
gn
poli
cyofanat i
on.Thus,dipl
omacycanbesai dt
obeamet hodandapr ocessof
conducting relati
ons among nat i
ons.The essence ofdi pl
omacy consistsin
bargaini
ngf oranat i
onsint
erestandsecuringitbestbyski l
fulandopportuneuseof
the resources oft he nat
ion.Gener al
l
y,di plomacy is supposed to securethe
maximum adv antageforanati
onbymeansofnegot i
ati
onandcom- promise.
DEFI
NITI
ON
Dipl
omacy may be def i
ned as t
he managementofi nt
ernati
onalr
elat
ions by
negoti
ati
onort hemethodbywhicht heserel
ati
onsar
eadj
ustedandmanaged.I n
otherwords,itist
heprocessofrepresent
ati
onandnegot
iat
ionsbywhichstates
customari
lydealwi
thoneanot
herintermsofpeace.
SirErnestSat
owhasgi v
enachar mingdefi
nit
ionofdipl
omacyinhisbook“ Guideto
dipl
omat i
cpract
ice”
.Hewr i
tes“Di
plomacyistheappl
icat
ionofint
ell
igenceandtact
totheconductofoffi
cialrel
ati
onsbetweenthegover
nmentofindependentstat
es’’
.
E.
AJohnsonopinest
hatdipl
omacyisaninst
rumentandmachinerywhi
chi
susedt
o
i
nfl
uenceandr
educemisunderst
andi
ngtoaverti
nter
nat
ional
cri
sis”
.
Morgent
hau i
soft heopini
on t
hatdi
plomacyi
sthepr
omot
ion oft
he nat
ional
i
nter
estsbypeacef
ul means”
.
I
ntheopini
onofK.M Pani
kkardi
plomacyisusedi
nrel
ati
ontoint
ernat
ionalpol
i
ces,
i
sthear
toffor
wardi
ngone’sint
eresti
nrel
ati
ontoot
hercount
ri
es.
QuincyWr i
ghtobservest hatDipl
omacyi nthepopularsensemeanst heempl oyment
oftask,shrewdnessandski l
linanynegotiat
ionortransact
ions.Inthespecialsense
used inter
nati
onalr elat
ions ist he artofnegot i
ation,i
n or dert o achiev
et he
maximum, ofgroupobj ecti
veswi t
hami nimum ofcost swit
hinasy stem ofpoli
ti
csin
whichwasi sapossi bil
ity
.Inshor t
,itisanappl i
cationoft actandi ntel
l
igencein
i
nternati
onalpoli
ciesthroughnegot i
ati
on,persuasi
onandcompr omise.
Funct
ionsofDi
plomat
Adi pl
omatistheey esandear sofhisgov ernment.Hispr
imarydutyi
stoexecutethe
poli
ciesofhisgov ernmentr eportthemaj ordevelopmentstohisgov ernmentand
protecttheint
erestoft henat ionals.Diplomacyf uncti
onsthroughforeignoff
ice,
embassies,consulate and speci almi ssion.A diplomatis an agentofmut ual
adjustmentbetweent heideasandf orcesuponwhi chnati
onact.AccordingtoJ.R.
Childsadipl
omatper for
msf ourbasi cfunctions.
1 Repr
esent
ati
on

1
A diplomati stheey esand earsofhi sgovernment.Hei salinkbet weenhi s
governmentandt heGovernmenttowhichheisaccredi
ted.Hehast ocult
ivatefi
nest
quali
ti
esofhumanbehav i
ourandtomakeal otofsocialcontact
s.Hehast oexplain
thepol i
ciesandaspir
ati
onsofhisgovernmentandatt hesamet i
mehehast otake
noti
ceofunder curr
entsofthesociet
yitsimpul
ses,it
sr eact
ionsanditsli
kingsand
disl
i
king.
Dipl
omat icrepr
esent at
ioni soft hreeki nds-Sy mbolic,legalandpol itical.He
perfor
medt hesy mbol i
cf unctionoft hedi pl
omat i
ccer emoni al
.Hei st hel egal
agentoft hegov ernmenther epresent s.Hisact spossessl egalv al
ue.Hemay
casthisvoteatinternationalconf erencesi nthenameofhi sgov ernment.Heal so
contri
butesinshapi ngf oreignpol i
cyofhi sst ate.Thi sishi smosti mpor tant
functi
on.Iti
ssai dt hatiffor ei
gnof ficeist hener vecent r
eoff orei
gnpol icy,the
dipl
omaticrepresent ati
vear ei t
sout lyingfibresmai nt
aini
ngt het wo-wayt r
affic,
between centre and out side wor ld.Upon t he r eli
abil
i
t y ofhi srepor tand
soundnessofhi sj udgmentt hesuccessorf ailureoft hef oreignpoli
cyofhi s
governmentdepends.
2. Negot
iat
ions
Negot iati
oni ssynony m anddiplomatsar ebydefinit
ionnegot iators.Negot i
ati
on
i
st hepur sui tofagr eementbycompr omi seanddi rectper sonalcont act.Their
dutyist odr aftawi dev ari
etyofbi l
ateralandmul ti
l
at eralagr eement s,Treaties
convent i
ons,pr otocolsandot herdocument sofapol i
tical
,soci alandeconomi c
nature.Thedi plomatendeav ourst hr
oughnegot i
ationt oobt aincer tainpri
vil
eges
fortheci tizens,busi nessment owi nov erthest at
et opar t
icipatei nregional
organisati
onsorsecur i
tyarrangement s.Itinv
olvest hepr esent ationofv iews
compr omi sing diff
erencessear chf orar easofmut ualint erestand common
agreementandt oreachsomeagr eementonaccor d.
3.Repor
ti
ng
Diplomat sar er equi
red torepor
tt otheirgov ernment ’
sdev elopmentsint he
appoi ntedstates.Theirreport
saret heraw mat er
ialsoff or
eignpol i
cy.These
repor t
scov erawi derangeofsubjectsoncur rentpol i
ti
cal
,economi c,soci
aland
milit
ar y condit
ions technol
ogy achi
evement sl egislat
ive pr
ogr ammes,publ i
c
opinion,mar ketconditi
onsandt r
endsofsi gnifi
cancei nthecount rywhichthey
areappoi nt
ed.Itisont hebasisoftherepor tthatt hegov er
nment sshapedits
foreignpol i
cytowar dsthatnati
oninparticul
arandt oothernationsingeneral
.
Henceadi plomatmustbeamanofkeenobser v ati
on,soundj udgmentand
accur atedescri
pt i
on.
4.Pr
otect
ion
Thepr imar
yf uncti
onofthedi pl
omati st opr otectandadv ancether i
ghtsand
i
nt er
estofthei
rcountr
yandi t
snat i
onalsabr oad.Theywi l
lhavetowat chthatthe
honouroft heircount
ryisnotcompr omi sed.Thi sresponsi
bil
it
yiscar ri
edout
throughnegotiat
ionsrepr
esentati
ons,treaties,andexecutiveagreements.They
also havet he mor e speci
fic duty of at t
empt i
ng to assist and pr ot
ect
businessman,seamenandal lothernati
onal soft hei
rowncount rywhoar eliv
ing

2
 ortravel
inginthecountryinwhi cht
heyarestati
oned.Underdi
stur
bedconditi
ons,
thi
sf uncti
onofdi pl
omat sbecomesmuchheav ier
.Theyhav etoarr
angefort he
safetyoflif
eoft hosenationalswhoar ether
eandhav etodoev er
ythi
ngintheir
powert ohelptheirnat
ionalsreachtheplacesofsafet
y.Theyal
solodgeprotests
orjustappealagainstt
hedi scri
minator
ytreat
mentfacedbythei
rnati
onals.

Di
plomacyandf
orei
gnpol
icy
Dipl omacyshoul dnotbeconf usedwi t
hforei
gnpol i
cy.Thef oreignpoli
cyofa
stat eaccor di
ngt oJ.R.
Chil
dsi s“thesubstanceoff oreignr elati
ons”whereas
“diplomacypr operist
heprocessbywhi chpoli
cyiscarr
iedout ”.Onei ssubst
ance
theot heri
smet hoddipl
omacyi stheagencythroughwhi chf oreignpoli
cyseeks
toat t
ainitspurposebyagreementr at
hert
hanbywar .Di plomacy ’smethodsare
per suasion,compromiseandthreatofwar.
Appoi
ntmentandt
ermi
nat
ionofDi
plomat
s
Appoi ntment:Muchgr oundwor kisdonebef or
eadi pl
omatisnamedt oa
country.Beforef or
mallyannounci
nghisposti
ng,informalenquiriesaremade
wit
ht hegov ernmentoft hecount
ryofhi
sposting.Ifheisacceptableandifthe
countryisagr eeabl
et orecei
vehim asadipl
omat ,thenhisnomi nati
ontothat
countryi sf ormall
y announced.The forei
gn count r
y’s appr
ov alis cal
led
agreementbet weent wonati
ons.
Butacountr
yisnotal
waysobli
gedtoacceptaproposeddipl
omat.Occasionall
y,
acountrymaynotbeagreeabletorecei
vingaparti
culardi
plomat,andhence
agreementmaynotbeextendedinsuchacase.Butsuchoccasi onsar erare.
Suchunaccept
abl
edipl
omatsareknownasper sonanongr ata.(unacceptabl
e
person)
Aft
ert heformalannouncementofhi spost i
ngt hediplomatwillspendsomet i
mes
i
nhi shomecount ry’
scapi t
alacquai nti
nghi mselfwi t
hthewor ki
ngoft hef or
eign
off
ice,meet i
ngt heforeignmi nist
er ,otherof f
ici
als,thedipl
omat sinhi scapi tal
fr
om t hecountrywher ehei spost edet c.Then,af terheisbriefedandpr epar ed,
hear r
ivesinthecountryofhi sposting.Onar r
ivalhecontactsthef oreignmi nister
andseeksanaudi encewi ththeheadoft hest ate.Thenataf ormalcer emonyhe
makesabr i
efformalspeech.Theheadoft hest atealsomakesasi milarspeech.
Thecopi esoft hespeechesar egener allyexchanged i n adv ance.Af tert his
ceremonyhi spostingisf ormall
ycompl ete,andsoonheconf er switht hef or
eign
ministerandi nf
luenti
all eader
soft hegov ernment ,meetshi scolleaguesand
settl
edownt ohisbusi ness.
Terminat
ion:Thet
erminat
ionoft
hedi
plomat
sst
ayort
hedi
plomat
icmi
ssi
onmy
occurduetosever
alf
actor
s.
1. Adipl
omatmaynotagreewiththehomegov
ernment
spol
icyi
nrel
ati
ontothe
countryinwhichheispost
ed.Insuchacase,hemayaskforatransf
erto
anothercount
ryorr
esi
gnhispost.

3
 2.2.Amissionmaybeterminatedorwounduponaccountofdi
ff
erencesor
st
rai
nscharact
eri
zi
ngt
herelat
ionsbet
weenhi
shomecountr
yandthecount
ry
ofhi
sposti
ng.
3.Thedi plomatmayber ecal
l
edbyt hehomegover
nmentorbroughthomef or
consultati
ongener
all
ybecausehehasbecomeunpopul
ari
nthecountryofhis
posi
tingandt hegover
nmentinthatcount
ryr
equi
reshi
sgovernmenttorecal
l
hi
m.
4.Sometimest hedipl
omatbecomessomuchunaccept abletothecountryof
hispostingthatthegov er
nmentofthatcountr
ydismi sseshim andev en
sendshi m backt ohishomecountry.Intimesofwaroronaccountof
dangerousprovocati
onssuchasspy
ing,passi
ngstr
ategicormi l
i
tarysecr
ets
tohishomecount r
ythedipl
omatmaybehandedbackhi spassportandasked
togohome.
Pr
ivi
legesandi
mmuni
ti
esofdi
plomat
s
Dipl
omat saregrantedseveralpri
vil
egesandi mmunitieswhichordinarycitizensdo
notenj oy.Theyr epr
esentheads oft heirnations;Hence,some pr ivi
leges and
i
mmuni ti
esarenecessaryinor dertohelpthem mai ntai
ntheirstatusanddi gnit
y.
Furtherinor
derthattheycarryoutthei
rduti
esf r
eelyandsati
sfactori
lyitisdesi r
able
thattheyenjoyameasur eoff r
eedom from thelocallawsandr estr
ict
ions.Br oadly
speakingthefol
l
owi ngpri
vi
legesandi mmunit
iesaregr ant
edtodiplomat s.
1. Di
plomats,t
hei
rfami
l
iesandmember
soft
hei
rmi
ssi
onar
eper
sonal
l
y
i
nvi
olabl
e.
2. Gener
all
y,t
heyenj
oyexempt
ionf
rom di
rectt
axes,
cust
omsdut
ieset
c.
3. Theyenj
oyexemptionfr
om civi
landcri
minalj
uri
sdi
cti
on.I
ftheyhappento
commitcri
mesofagr avenature,t
hegovernmentofthecountrywhere
theyar
eappointedmayr equestthei
rhomegov er
nmentst orecal
lthei
r
dipl
omatsf
ortr
ialorpr
operacti
onathome.
4. Themailort
hecorrespondenceofthedipl
omatsisinvi
olabl
e.Theyar
e
ent
it
li
ngt
opri
vacyi
nmat ter
sofcorr
espondenceandtel
ephones.
5. The pr
emises ort he buil
dings ofthe embassies togetherwiththei
r
f
urni
shi
ngs,equipment,archi
v es,et
c.areconsider
edt obeapr oper
tyof
t
henati
onsrepresentedbythedi pl
omats.Theseareinv
iolable.
6. I
ncaseofwarorsever
anceofdi
plomat
icr
elat
ionsbet
weentwonat
ions
t
hedi
plomat
sareassur
edsaf
eret
urntot
hei
rhomecountri
es.
7. Theyhav
einv
iol
abl
eri
ghtofpassaget
hrought
hir
dfr
iendl
ycount
ri
eswhi
l
e
ondut
y.
Theextentofprivi
legesandimmuni t
iesenj oyedbydipl
omatsdependsuponthe
pri
nci
ple ofreci
procit
y.Ifa nat
ion displays cour
tesyand consi
der
ati
on i
nthe
tr
eatmentofdipl
omat sfr
om anothernationi t
sdipl
omatsaregeneral
l
yshownthe
samecour t
esyandconsiderat
ionbyt heot hernati
on.Onthecontrar
yifanati
on

4
restrictsthef
reedom ordeniedthepr i
vil
egesofdiplomatsofanot hernation,i
ts
diplomat smaybegi ven si
mil
artreat
ment .Forexample,whent heSino-I ndi
an
relationswerer est
ri
cti
ons on t
he mov ementofI ndian di
plomati
c personnelin
peeki ng.TheI
ndiangov er
nmentret
ali
atedthisbypl
acingsimilarr
estr
ict
ionsont he
mov ementofChinesedipl
omati
cpersonalinNewDelhi.

TYPESOFDI
PLOMACY

1.SECRETDI
PLOMACY
Priort o wor l
dwarIdi plomacywasl argelysecret.Thegener alpublicwasnot
i
nf ormed as t ot he nature ofnegot iati
ons going on ort ol
di nf ullaboutt he
agr eementsr eached.Butaf tert he wart he beli
efbegan t o cir
culatethatt he
diplomacy shoul d be open i .e.publ i
c.I n ol
d di pl
omacy t he diplomats wer e
responsibleonl yt otheexecut iveandt heexecutiv
ebei ngunaccount able,decided
thegui de-l
inesf ordipl
omat s.Thegener alpubl
icwasnoti nformedast othenature
ofnegot i
ationscondi ti
ons,at ti
tudesandbel i
efs.Itisundoubt edl
yt ruet hatthe
secr etdiplomacy was mor e successf ulthan any ot herst yl
e as itmade t he
diplomat i
cconductmor ef l
exi
bleandnegot i
ati
onsmor esuccessf ul
.Thedi plomats
wer emor econf identandt hei
rareaofact i
vi
tywasmuchwi der.
Thef
oll
owi
ngar
gument
sar
egener
all
yfor
war
dedi
nthef
avourofsecr
etdi
plomacy
.
i
. Secretdiplomacyi
smoresuccessfulasitiscarr
iedoutinanat mosphere
ofr eal
ism.The concessions i
nt he bargai
ning aref l
exi
ble as the
negoti
ationsarefr
eef
rom t
heconfusingnoiseofpublici
ty.
i
i. Insecr
etdiplomacythedipl
omacy,hastheopt
iontobemoredynamic
andr
eal
ist
ic.Hiscapabi
l
iti
esar
erespect
edandhecommandsmuchfai
th.
i
ii
. I
tnev
erget
spol
l
utedbymal
i
ciouspr
opaganda.
i
v. Insecr
etdipl
omacy
,thenegot
iator
smayagr
eeoncer
tai
npoi
ntswhi
ch
t
heywil
lnev
erall
owinanopendipl
omacy
.
v
. Secr
etdi
plomacyi
sconduct
edbypr
ofessi
onal
dipl
omat
s.

2.OPEN(
DEMOCRATI
C)DI
PLOMACY
Opendi pl
omacyisar eactionagainstthet ot
alit
ari
anandsecretapproachesto
dipl
omacy .Theattackont r
aditi
onaldipl
omacywasl edbyWoodrow Wi l
sonwho
specif
icall
ymenti
onedt hat“ opencovenantofpeaceopenlyarr
ivedat,aft
erwhich
thereshallbenoprivateinternati
onalunderst
andingofanyki
ndbutdipl
omacyshall
proceedalwaysfr
ankl yandi nthepubli
cv i
ew”.
Thear
gument
sinf
avourofopen(
democr
ati
c)di
plomacyr
unl
iket
his.
i
. Thepeopl
eofanat
ionhav
ear
ightt
oknowwhati
nter
nat
ionalcommi
tment
s
5
 thei
rgovernmentsmake because i
tist heywho wil
lbe cal
led upon t
o
sacri
fi
cet
heirweal
thandl
i
v estokeepthepledget
hei
rdi
plomat
shavemade.
i
i
. Inademocr acythegover
nmenti
sresponsi
blet
ot hepeopl
e.Ifthepl
edges
and commitments ar
e notconv
eyed tothe peopl
ei truns agai
nstthe
democrat
icnorms.
i
i
i. Asopendipl
omacyi
sagainstt
hesecr
etcommit
mentsandpledgesnosuch
tr
eatyshoul
dbeconcl
udedwhichmightul
ti
mat
elypr
ovedisastr
oustothe
peopl
e.
i
v. Openappr
oachtodipl
omacyi
snotopposedtocloseddoornegoti
ati
ons.I
tis
agai
nstonl
yto secretpr
ovi
sionsofthet r
eat
iesand keeping t
hepublic
uni
nfor
medabouttheagr
eementsandt
heirpr
ovi
sions.

3.DI
PLOMACYBYCONFERENCE:
Dipl
omacy by conf erence has now come to stay as a permanentf actorof
i
nternati
onalrel
ati
ons.Inaconferencedipl
omacythenormalchannelsofdiplomacy
l
ikediplomati
candconsul arestabl
ishment
sarebypassedandt heconferencesare
madeasani mportantdipl
omati
cchannel.Thest
atesthr
oughconferenceareableto
postponetheirhosti
li
ti
esforthetimebeginandthussucceedinavoidi
ngthear med
confl
ict
.
Thehistoryofconferencediplomacyi sv eryol d.Ev enbef or
etheworl
dwarIi t
becameav er
ypopularphenomenoni ni nternationalrel
ati
onsanditwasadopted
andsuccessful
lytr
ied.ThetreatyofWest phalia( 1648)isoneofthemostglari
ng
examplesofconferencebydi plomacy .Thel eagueofnat i
onshadunsuccessf
ull
y
tr
iedtomakeconf erencediplomacyasoneoft heimportantmeanst
omai ntai
n
worldpeaceandtoi r
onoutthemi sunderstandingsamongt hememberstat
es.The
UNOal soatt
achedmuchi mportancetosuchadi plomacy.
Inconf erencedi
plomacyopposi tecampscanbebr oughtaroundatableandopen
discussioncanbeconduct edtodi ssol
vethedifferencesamongnat i
ons.I
tisopen
andpar li
amentaryincharact
erandt heprocedur
ei sflexi
bleandther
eareverymany
possibili
ti
esfort
her epr
esentat
ivestoestabl
ishpersonalfri
endshi
p.
Butt
her
ear
esomedef
ect
sorl
i
mit
ati
onsf
ort
hedi
plomacybyconf
erence.
Ther epresent
ati
veswhopar t
icipat ei
naconf erencear et her epr
esentati
vesoftheir
sovereigngov er
nment.Theyar eassi stedandwat chedbyt heexpertsofauxi l
iary
servi
ces.Theyar ebri
ef edbyt hei rrespecti
v egov ernment sonal lthoseaspect s
wheret heyhav etoagr eeanddi sagree.Not hi
ngi sl eftatt heirdi
screti
on.So,t he
conferenceismer el
yshowbecauset hemember sarest r
ictl
ycont r
oll
edbyt heheads
oft he gov er
nmentt he ideologi caldiffer
ences bet ween westand communi st
countri
esar esowi dethatnoagr eement sbyawayofconf erencecanbedr eamtof.
Buttheyconv eneconferencesjustt oclari
fytheirstandandt oputallblameonot her.
4.PERSONALDI
PLOMACY:

6
When t he foreign mi ni
ster
s,pr ime mi ni
ster
s orheads oft he states directl
y
part
ici
pateindi plomaticnegoti
ationsthistermedasper sonalorsummi tdiplomacy.
Resorttosuchadi pl
omat i
cstyl
ei swarrantedincasethemat ter
sofseriousconcer n
areinvolv
ed.Dur ingWor l
dWarI It hi
sdiplomaticstyl
ecamet ofr
equentuseamong
theall
iedandaxi spower s.Ther
ewer emanyper sonalmeet i
ngsbetweenChur chi
l
l
andRoosev elt
.TheAt lanti
ccharter(1941)wast heresul
tofthepersonaldiplomacy .
Manyconferencesthathavebeenheldinpostwarperiodofnonali
gnedst
ateswere
summitconferences.TheAf r
o-AsianconferenceatBandung(1955)i
soneoft he
mostsuccessfulmil
estonesofpersonaldi
plomacyinwhichtheworl
dsawapoli
ti
cal
awakeni
ngofhi ghmagnitudeint
hedev el
opingstat
es.
Someoft heexamplesofsummitmeeti
ngsareBhut
o-I
ndir
aGandhimeet
ingat
Si
mlai n1972.Raj
i
vGandhi-Gor
bachevmeeti
ngatNew Del
hii
n1986andShaik
Haseena-Dev
agowdameeti
ngatNewDelhii
n1996.
I
nper sonaldiplomacyt herepresent
ativ
esar eassistedbyanumberofexper t
sof
diff
erent br anches whi l
e t he inf
ormati
on r endered by exper ts makes t he
representati
vesupt odat ethepresenceoft heheadoft hestat
esorgov ernments
makest heexper tsconf
ident.Theagreementsreachedi nsuchconferencesaresure
tober atif
iedasi thascommi tmentofthehighestoffi
cial
softhestates.
Per
sonaldi
plomacyal
sosuf
fer
edf
rom somedef
ect
sandt
heyar
e:
i
. The fai
l
ure ofper
sonaldi
plomacy l
eav
es no al
ter
nat
ivet
oresume
negot
iat
ions.
i
i
. Thepr esenceofahi ghdi gni
tar
ylikeheadoft hest ateorgov ernment
arouses much publ i
c expectati
ons and i nspir
e t he press. I fthe
negotiati
ons fail
,public expect
ati
ons and i nspir
et he press.I ft
he
negotiati
onsfail,publ
i
cmaycauseembar r
assmentt ot hegov ernment.
Wher easthepresenceofdiplomatsinfor
eigncapi t
alisanor malt hingt
he
fai
lur
eofnegot iati
onsremainsunnoti
ced.

LI
MITATI
ONSODDI
PLOMACY
Limi tationsofdipl
omacydoesnotmeant hecompl et
ef ai
l
ureofdi pl
omacyasan
i
nstrumentofnat i
onalpoli
cy.Itonlyconv ey
st heineff
ecti
venessofdi pl
omacyin
resolvingpr obl
emsi ninter
nati
onalaf fai
rs.Thesediplomaticproblemswhichhave
challengeddi pl
omacyposeagr eatthreattotheworldpeace.Att hesametime,t
hey
i
ndicat e certai
nl i
mitati
ons ofdi plomacy al so.The foll
owing causes may be
attr
ibut edtotheli
mitati
onsofdiplomacy .
1.Nat
ureofNat
ionscommi
tmentt
othei
ssuedconcer
ned
Cert
ainissuesi
nint
ernati
onalrel
ati
onsaresoimportantt
ot hestat
esthatt hey
att
achthem wit
hcor
ei nt
erestsandval
uesoft
heNat i
on.Theyadoptanobst i
nate
and non-compromi
sing att
it
ude i
n al
lnegot
iat
ions.Forexample,the Kashmir

7
probl
emsi st
hequest
ionofI
ndia’scorei
nter
estsandval
ues.Anycompromiseon
thi
sissuemaycr
eateatur
moi
linternal
l
yandexter
nal
ly
,har
mingthever
yideal
sIndi
a
i
scher i
shi
ng.
2.Rol
eofanat
ionont
hebasi
sofi
deol
ogi
es
Nationspursuesomespeci f
ici
deologi
est hroughoutthei
rforei
gnpoli
ti
cs.Theytake
ar i
gidandacompr omisingstandint henegot i
ati
onswhi chcreat
edproblemsand
dimst hepossi
bil
it
yofdi plomati
csuccess.Thecommuni standcapit
ali
sti
cblocsof
thewor l
daresuspici
ousofeachot her.Diplomatictal
ksbetweentheseblocshasput
dipl
omat i
cmov estoli
ght.
3.Thenat
ureofI
nter
nat
ionalSy
stem
Powerr elati
onsandi nternati
onallawli
mi tthei mpactofdi plomacyoni nternati
onal
syst em.Many pr oblems i nt he fi
eld ofi nternat
ionalr el
ations haver emai ned
unr esolvedast hestatesi nvol
veddeem t hatanydeci sionwoul daf f
ectthebal ance
ofpower .The st at
es i n ordert o maintain status-quo t ook r i
gid stands in
negot i
ati
ons.Inpost1945per i
odt heobservanceofi nternati
onallawininternati
onal
relationsi soneoft henor mst hewor ldpubl i
copi ni
onexpect s.Itissignifi
cant
becauseoft hegeneralsuppor tithasachi eved.Thisphenomenonofi nternati
onal
relations has made di plomacy a weak f orce in conduct i
ng negotiati
ons and
diplomat ictact
icsobsoletetosomeex t
ent .
4. WeakDi
plomat
icCapabi
li
ti
es:
Thet otaleffect
ivenessofast ateini nternationalpolit
icsist ermedasdiplomat i
c
capacity.Whenev erthereoccursadi plomat ici nt
ercoursebetweent wostates,each
tri
est obar gai
nf ormaxi mum adv antages.I fast atedoesnothav ethesuf f
ici
ent
force mi l
i
tarypowert o pur
sue it
si nt er
est s,economi c st
rengthtor ewardt he
counterpartanddi plomaticskil
ltoout witother sdiplomacywi l
lfai
ltoachieveits
objecti
ves.The emer gence ofAsi an and Af ri
can states,wi t
h weak di
plomat i
c
capabil
iti
eshav econt r
ibutedtothefail
ureofnegot i
ati
ons.
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