Crisis Diplomacy Under Discussion

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, , language: English, abstract: This paper will argue that though the character of crises occupying the international agenda may have changed, the skills and expertise possessed by professional diplomats have proven to be irreplaceable in addressing crisis situations. It will do this in two parts. First, it will briefly examine traditional formations of ‘international crisis’ and ‘crisis diplomacy’, arguing that these concepts need to be adjusted to encompass the contemporary global environment. Second, it will compare the efficacy of state and non-state agents in mediating crisis situations, demonstrating that professional diplomats are still without equal.

Although much has been written on international crises, the literature suffers from a lack of historical depth, and a proliferation of competing theoretical frameworks. Through case studies drawing on the rich historical experience of crisis diplomacy, James Richardson offers an integrated analysis based on a critical assessment of the main theoretical approaches. Due weight is given to systemic and structural factors, but also to the specific historical factors of each case, and to theories which do not presuppose rationality as well as those which do. Crisis diplomacy the major political choices made by decision makers, and their strategies, judgments and misjudgments - is found to play a crucial role in each of the case studies. This broad historical inquiry is especially timely when the ending of the Cold War has removed the settled parameters within which the superpowers conducted their crisis diplomacy.

A comprehensive overview of the state of crisis management in international affairs, this book focuses primarily on the U.S.-USSR relationship. For most of the postwar period, the U.S. superiority in nuclear weapons shaped the political structure within which international crises occurred. This edge began to deteriorate by the late 1970s, leading to a new and potentially more dangerous structure within which the superpower rivalry is now conducted. Arguing that the shifting nuclear balance has created a new dimension for crisis management, the contributors analyze such issues as the informal norms of diplomatic behavior that have evolved during the extended superpower rivalry, the tendency of both superpowers to engage in activities that progressively reduce crisis stability, and various concrete measures such as risk reduction centers that might enhance the current system for crisis management. The book also includes case studies of crisis management among non-superpowers. Taken together, these papers address the important question of how human control can be maximized in situations of international crisis.

Regionale kriser; Internationale kriser; Nittenhundredetallet; Løsninger; Modsætninger; Teknik og metode; Perspektiver.

This collection explores foreign policy crises and the way the states/leaders deal with them. Being at the juncture of a highly sensitive political zone, consisting of the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, the Republic of Turkey has been the subject of various foreign policy crises since its foundation. These political, military, economic or humanitarian crises were triggered either by the states themselves or by the NGOs and armed non-state actors. By examining literature in the field of foreign policy crises literature, this volume scrutinizes some of the most prominent Turkish foreign policy crises. Among these, there are protracted crises such as that of Cyprus and the Aegean Sea; a humanitarian one such as the 1989 migration of the Bulgarian Turks; an NGO-triggered crisis, such as the Mavi Marmara Confrontation; and an ongoing case such as the Syrian civil war. Looking at these crises from various aspects, the text sheds light on whether, or how, the reactions of the Turkish ruling elite change while trying to manage these crises. The book is a timely contribution to literature in the field of politics and international relations and will be useful to academics, diplomats and historians interested in foreign policy crises in general and Turkish foreign policy crises in particular.

Produced for unit SSS204 offered by the School of Social Sciences in Deakin University's Open Campus Program.

George examines seven cases--from Pearl Harbor to the Persian Gulf--in which the United States has used coercive diplomacy in the past half-century.