diplomacy- part 2,,

8/9/2019 Diplomacy- Part 2,,

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THE LEGAL SETTINGOF DIPLOMACY


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DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

- It is a fundamental rule of international law that

allows a diplomat to engage in international

diplomacy without fear or interference.

- Protection of a diplomat from civil and criminal

charges and from detention or personal harm.

- It is an early and clear example of states

preferring to find ways to cooperate rather thanaccepting greater conflict.


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HOW BROAD IS THE

COVERAGE OF IMMUNITYFOR DIPLOMATS?


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Immunity is broad enough to protect the diplomat from normal

law enforcement and civil suits.

A diplomatic staff also enjoys the same immunity the

ambassador does, and this immunity extends to the attaches

and the spouses and families of the diplomats.

If war breaks out, diplomatic immunity continues until diplomats

have departed from the host country.

ex. 1941, Japanese diplomats in Washington, D.C. at the

time of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Immunity even extends to a deceased diplomat.

Immunity also covers the home of the ambassador.


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Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961

where widely accepted diplomatic practices wereset down


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WHY DO THEY ENJOY THIS

PRIVILEGE UNDERINTERNATIONAL LAW?


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Governments would be reluctant to send

ambassadors to other states if someone might harm

them or take them hostage.

Privileges and immunities are not intended to

benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient

performance of functions.


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PERSONA NON GRATA

If a host government wants to get rid of an

individual with diplomatic immunity, it must declare

that person persona non grata (The principle that a

person can be found unacceptable by a hostgovernment and can be expelled) and ask for his or

her recall by the sending government. He has to

return to the sending state and the host state does

not have to give an explanation.


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Principal Reasons a Host State Might

Declare a Diplomat Persona Non Grata

Personal misconduct

Espionage

Retaliation by a state that has had one of itsdiplomats found unacceptable


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Examples:

In 1994, President Bill Clintons administration

expelled the senior Russian intelligence officer,

Aleksander Lysenko of the Russian embassy, the 1st

such expulsion since 1986.

The Clinton administration was upset over the

espionage of a CIA employee, Aldrich Ames, who

continued spying for Russia after the end of theCold War.


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DO DIPLOMATS CASUALLY

ABUSE THEIR EXTENSIVE

IMMUNITY AND DO SO WITHIMPUNITY?


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Professional diplomats follow an ethical code that

requires them to obey local laws.

The best guarantee of the diplomats immunity is the

correctness of his own good conduct.

The privilege of diplomatic immunity imposes on thediplomat the obligation to obey the laws of the host

country.


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EMBASSY

- The location of a diplomatic mission in a host

country; enjoys substantial immunity for diplomatic

purposes.

EMBASSY ROW

- a street where embassies of many countries cluster

together in the capital of the host countryex. Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C.


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EXTRATERRITORIALITY

- This status meant that embassy personnel could followtheir own countrys laws inside the embassy, thoughthose laws might be incompatible with the laws of thehost state.

!However, this historical view is not accurate today, if itever was.

An embassy is inviolable only in the sense that thediplomats and their diplomatic business are not tosuffer interference and that local authorities will notenter the embassy without permission.


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An activity sanctioned by the sending state in one of

its embassies will not necessarily hold up as

legitimate in the eyes of the host state.

Ex. The Radwan vs. Radwan case of 1972

Non-diplomatic acts, civil or criminal, that occur in

an embassy fall under the jurisdiction of the hoststate.


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EMBASSY SECURITY

Host states have a legal obligation to

protect embassies and consulates;

however, this protection does not alwayshold up in practice.

On rare occasion, mobs storm

embassies and sometimes burn them.


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Ex. - The Chinese Cultural Revolution of the late1960s

- A Pakistani mob burned the American embassy inIslamabad and killed a Marine guard in 1980

- 1979 Seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, Iran

- 1995, a rocket grenade was fired into the USembassy in Moscow

- Placement of listening devices, or bugs by the

Soviets in the new American Embassy in Moscow


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ASYLUM

- is the protection from arrest or extradition given toa local political refugee by an embassy.

- American Foreign Service regulations allow

asylum if the refugee is in mortal danger from amob.

The Caracas Convention Diplomatic Asylum of 1954allows Latin America countries to grant asylum and

determine whether an offense is criminal orpolitical. Because of this convention, asylum casesoccur with some frequency in this region.


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CONSULS and CONSULATES

They do not have quite the same immunities and inviolability

diplomats and embassies do, even though the International Law

Commission of the United Nations has recommended the same

protection.

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963:

The consuls have less protection from civil and criminal

prosecution than diplomats.

Host authorities can enter consulates in matters of public safety

such as fire.

The protection of consulate records, the freedom of

communication, and the freedom of movement for consuls is

about the same as for diplomats.


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PROTOCOL

- is the proper conduct and procedures involved in

diplomacy.

- has grown out of need and is a matter of custom

more than formal international law.


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- In the 17th and 18th centuries, diplomats wasted muchtime and occasionally dueled over matters of prestigeand status. Each diplomat wanted a seat at the head ofa table, or one closest to a host, or to be put first in line

in a procession.The diplomats positions symbolicallyreflected their countries power and importance.

Congress of Vienna of 1815 adopted a principle ofseniority based on the dates of accreditation of the

ambassadors in a given capital. From that time on,seniority would control position on formal occasions.


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Dean of diplomats is the most senior of the

diplomatic corps and arbitrates for the others in

matters of dispute among ambassadors in the same

capital.Chief of Protocol appointed by host governments,

they ensure that proper procedures, including

deference of seniority, always receive respect.

- Proper protocol diffuses conflict over symbols so

issues of substance can receive due attention.


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DIPLOMATIC STYLES


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DIPLOMATIC STYLE

- is the characteristic way states and other actors

approach and handle their foreign policies.

National cultures can hold different prescriptions for

the behavior of people, including worldly

diplomats.

Raymond Cohen cultural differences run deep and

obstruct the resolution of conflicts.


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MUTUAL MISPERCEPTION

Think the American style

overly emphasizesfrankness, impatience,

insensitivity, a resort

to new initiatives, and

a tendency to viewissues as crises.

Think the non-Western style

focuses too much on a

concern with social form,

history, preference for

principles over specifics,

intransigence to

bargaining, and awillingness to end

meetings without

agreement.

Non-Westerners Westerners / Americans


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OPERATING CONDITIONSOF DIPLOMACY


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EXPENSE

The rapid rise in the number of states since the 1960shas required expanded diplomatic operations for manystates and involves a serious financial burden for mostof them.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the United Statesprobably has the largest diplomatic establishment in theworld, however, in 1993 and 1994, cost-cuttingpressures led it to close 18 consulates and 2 embassiesin Africa.

When governments fail to establish an embassyor toclose one, as Gambia did its Washington embassy in1985the reason is often the financial costs involved.


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WAR

When leaders suspend negotiations to make war,

the role of the diplomat is severely limited. The use

of military force implies that the goals of thewarring states are irreconcilable. Diplomacy can be

effective only when room for negotiation exists and

compromise is possible.


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POWER

While diplomacy is ongoing, military strength may

be useful to support diplomacy. The two professions

should support the same foreign policy, and in a

coordinated way. Diplomats from weak countries may not receive

attention, and military power unguided by

diplomatic advice may prove to be a blind, reckless

force.


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Diplomacy without an army is like music without

instruments.Frederick the Great,

King of Prussia


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Coercive Diplomacy a defensive strategy thatattempts to persuade an opponent to halt an aggressiveaction. In addition to diplomatic ploys, the threat offorce, or the actual use of limited force, can serve to

restore peace.Gunboat Diplomacy an offensive tactic rather than a

defensive gambit to head off an aggressive act.

ex. In 1995, China placed flags on unoccupied atolls in

the Spratley Islands, between China and the Phils., andenforced this territorial claim with destroyers.


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TERRORISM

Terrorists use violent acts to dramatize their

grievances and wear down the will of governments

that resist them. Terrorists have sometimes focused

on diplomats because the latters traditional,peaceful role has made them vulnerable.

Grey Wolves, a group of Turkish Armenians who want

autonomy from Turkey, has specialized in assassinating

Turkish diplomats and their families


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Most early deaths of diplomats were from sicknessand disease but since the Second World War, mostdeaths have resulted from acts of terrorists.

Bombings and other terrorist-related mattersfrequently disrupt embassy activities.

Diplomacy is more difficult to carry out because ofterrorist activities.

State-Sponsored Terrorism some countries haveused their diplomatic pouches to carry bombs andother weapons from one country to another.


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TECHNOLOGY

Hans Morgenthau - Diplomacy would naturally

decline with the onset of modern communication

technologies such as the telephone, telegraph,

cable, and communication satellite. Ex. In the Persian Gulf crisis of 1991, President George

Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev conducted an

unprecedented 75-minute telephone conversation,

including the time of translation. Unfortunately fordiplomats, telephones bypass their roles.


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EXTENT OF AGREEMENT

If states share common interests and have few

disagreements, the diplomats task will be relatively

easy.

The United States and Canada have the longestdemilitarized border in the world and they resolve their

minor problems in a spirit of friendship unlike with

China and the Soviet Union which shared a hostile

border at which end had placed about a million troops.


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SECRET VS. OPEN DIPLOMACY

One of the causes of the 1st World War may havebeen a series of military obligations that theparticipants of the war had made in secret.

President Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points aimedat structuring a better world included arecommendation that the diplomatic process, as wellas the agreements of states, receive public scrutiny.

League Covenant required that countries publishand register every treaty with the League ofNations.


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PROBLEMS WITH OPEN DIPLOMACY:

Diplomats cannot be effective in a fishbowl

environment. Public negotiating will lead to posturing for

public effect, with diplomats either making empty

gestures or taking rigid positions. Diplomacy calls for concessions and compromise, and

these are difficult to achieve with media and anxious

publics watching.

Democracy-Diplomacy Dilemma: To be effective,diplomacy must be secretive, but to meet the

requirements of democracy, it must be open.


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DIPLOMATIC SKILL

Whatever the obstacles a diplomat faces,

considerable skill will enhance successful diplomacy.

While excellent individual diplomats have come

from African, Asian, and the Middle Easterncountries, many others are POLITICAL APPOINTEES

relatives of the rulers, political opponents, or

troublemakers appointed as diplomats to get them

out of the country.


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Nonprofessional diplomats often seek the pleasures

of their station rather than work.

Ex. In 1986, Irans ambassador to the United Nations,

Said Rajaie-Khorassani, tried on a $100 raincoat in aNew York department store. He ripped off the price tag

and headed for the exit. When he got caught, he told

the police he was merely looking for a three-way mirror

to see if the coat would fit.


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Unskilled diplomats lack knowledge as to how embassies

function, they do not know the language and culture of

their host country, and they produce a low morale

among FSOs because they deny these professionals adeserved ambassadorship which could lead to problems

in international diplomacy.

President George Bush outdid other presidents in making

some particularly shameful appointments as with Joy

Silverman, Amb. to Barbados who held no college degree

nor did she have an impressive job record, Peter Secchia,

Amb. to Italy and Joseph Gildenhorn, Amb. to Switzerland.


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Not all political appointments are poor choices, however.

Shirley Temple Black, ambassador to Czechoslovakia

Raymond Seitz, ambassador to Great Britain

Most ambassadors(about two-thirds) are FSOs, welltrained, and skilled, but it was only in 1924 that a

professional diplomatic corps resulted from the RogersAct in addition to studying foreign languages, thediplomatic corps go through the Foreign Service Institute

staffed by a faculty drawn from the most experienceddiplomats. Only after a long and distinguished careerdo the most successful FSOs become ambassadors.

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