A New Paradigm for EU Diplomacy? EU Council Negotiations in a Time of Physical Restrictions

Maurer, Heidi; Wright, Nicholas

doi:10.1163/1871191x-bja10039

Cited by 13 publications

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“…While everyone recognizes this moment as unprecedented, COREPER ambassadors in particular emphasize continuity over change in the early stages of the pandemic. These ambassadors and their assistants—with two exceptions in July and September 2020 during in-person summits in Brussels—have been the only groups meeting face to face continuously during the pandemic (see also Maurer and Wright 2020 , 14). The diplomats’ insistence on face-to-face meetings in the spring had both legal and organizational reasons.…”

Section: The Show Must Go On(line): Diplomacy In the Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

Eggeling

Adler‐Nissen

2021

Global Studies Quarterly

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What happens to the diplomatic encounter when it is digitally mediated? This article investigates how multilateral diplomats, who understand themselves as bringing people and polities together, cope with and resist the move to online settings, replacing handshakes with touchless greetings in videoconferences. Our starting point is the Covid-19 pandemic, but the article theorizes the effects of digital technological mediation already under way years before. Translating Knorr Cetina's notion of “synthetic situation” into the discipline of international relations (IR), we address how the very composition of diplomatic interaction is undergoing transformation. Building on immersive and remote fieldwork, among ambassadors, attachés, interpreters, and journalists constituting the field of European Union diplomacy, our argument speaks to IR debates on international practice, face-to-face interactions, digital technologies, and the political sociology of diplomacy. We show how practicing diplomacy online and with restrictions on in-person meetings involves (re)constructions of its dramaturgy, props, symbols, and authenticity as well as “heroic” fantasies of duty and exceptionalism; we analyze how diplomacy is practiced in “screen worlds” through scopic media enabling “response presence” or virtual co-presence across geographic and professional/private sites; and we trace how resistance to syntheticism emerges as screen fatigue spreads. Overall, we find that the pandemic has accelerated the ongoing transformation of diplomacy from “naked” face-to-face interactions to digitally mediated “synthetic situations,” producing new interpretations of who is “essential” in diplomacy. We conclude by questioning the term “digital diplomacy,” suggesting that virtual practices are in fact not simply “online” but embodied offline, and sometimes actively resisted. In the screen world, diplomats’ bodies (and home offices) become key sites of IR. ¿Qué sucede con los encuentros diplomáticos cuando son mediados de manera digital? En este artículo se investiga cómo los diferentes diplomáticos, que se caracterizan por ser el nexo entre la gente y el sistema gubernamental, se enfrentan y se resisten a ser parte de un entorno online en el que se reemplazan los apretones de manos con videoconferencias. Nuestro punto de partida es la pandemia de COVID-19, pero el artículo teoriza los efectos de la mediación tecnológica digital que ya se viene viendo desde hace unos años. Trasladando la noción de “situación sintética,” propuesta por Knorr Cetina, a la disciplina de Relaciones Internaciones, abordamos cómo la composición de la interacción diplomática está experimentando una transformación. Sobre la base del trabajo de campo inmersivo y remoto, entre embajadores, agregados, intérpretes y periodistas que constituyen el campo de la diplomacia de la Unión Europea, nuestro argumento habla acerca de los debates de RRII de práctica internacional, las interacciones cara a cara, las tecnologías digitales y la sociología política de la diplomacia. Mostramos cómo la práctica de la diplomacia en línea y con restricciones en las reuniones en persona implica (re)construcciones de su dramaturgia, así como también fantasías “heroicas” de deber y excepcionalismo; analizamos cómo se lleva a cabo la diplomacia en el “mundo de la pantalla” a través de medios escópicos que dan lugar a la copresencia virtual en sitios geográficos y profesionales/privados; y hablamos de cómo el mundo se resiste al sintetismo a medida que se expande la fatiga causada por las pantallas. En general, descubrimos que la pandemia ha acelerado la transformación de la diplomacia, que ya se venía dando, pasando de ser interacciones cara a cara “desnudas” a “situaciones sintéticas” mediadas digitalmente, lo que da lugar a generar nuevas interpretaciones de quién es “esencial” en la diplomacia. Concluimos cuestionando el término “diplomacia digital” y sugerimos que las prácticas virtuales no son simplemente “en línea,” sino que se materializan fuera de línea y, a veces, el mundo se resiste a ellas activamente. En el mundo de la pantalla los organismos diplomáticos (y las oficinas) se convierten en lugares clave cuando hablamos de relaciones internacionales. Qu'advient-il d'une rencontre diplomatique lorsqu'elle a lieu numériquement? Cet article étudie la manière dont les diplomates multilatéraux, qui se voient comme réunissant peuple et polities, font face et résistent au passage aux environnements en ligne qui remplacent les poignées de main par des vidéoconférences. Notre point de départ est la pandémie de COVID-19, mais cet article théorise les effets du passage au numérique qui avait déjà commencé des années auparavant. Nous transposons la notion de « situation synthétique » de Knorr Cetina dans la discipline des relations internationales et nous abordons la manière dont la composition même des interactions diplomatiques est en train de se transformer. Nous nous sommes appuyés sur un travail de terrain mené à distance auprès d'ambassadeurs, d'attachés, d'interprètes et de journalistes constituant le champ de la diplomatie de l'Union Européenne, et notre argument contribue aux débats de RI portant sur la pratique internationale, les interactions en tête-à-tête, les technologies numériques et la sociologie politique de la diplomatie. Nous montrons la manière dont la pratique de la diplomatie en ligne, avec restrictions des réunions en personne, implique des (re)constructions de sa dramatrugie ainsi que des « heroic fantasys » du devoir et de l'exceptionnalisme. Nous analysons également la manière dont la diplomatie est pratiquée dans le « monde des écrans » par le biais de médias scopiques permettant la coprésence virtuelle sur différents sites géographiques et professionnels/privés. Enfin, nous retraçons la mesure dans laquelle une résistance au synthétisme s'opère tandis que la fatigue face aux écrans s'accentue. Globalement, nous constatons que la pandémie a accéléré la transformation de la diplomatie qui était déjà en cours et qui consiste en un passage des interactions en tête-à-tête « à visage nu » à des « situations synhtétiques » numériques produisant de nouvelles interprétations relatives aux personnes jugées « essentielles » ou non en diplomatie. Nous concluons par un questionnement sur le terme de « diplomatie numérique » en suggérant que les pratiques virtuelles sont non seulement « en ligne » mais également incarnées hors ligne et qu'elles font parfois l'objet d'une résistance active. Dans le monde des écrans, les institutions (et les bureaux à domicile) des diplomates deviennent des sites clés de relations internationales.

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Section: The Show Must Go On(line): Diplomacy In the Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

Eggeling

Adler‐Nissen

2021

Global Studies Quarterly

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“…More recent scholarship has focused explicitly on the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on diplomacy and international negotiation. Maurer and Wright (2020), writing in the early months of the pandemic, assess the viability of virtual diplomacy in the EU; they predict that continuity of existing negotiations will be more readily supported by virtual technologies than the initiation of new debates and relationships. Naylor (2020) similarly argues that virtual venues can lead to a 'hollowing' of summit diplomacy; the loss of the performative symbolic and interpersonal dimensions of summitry render online meetings ineffective.…”

Section: Venue Choices and International Negotiationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Venues and International Negotiations: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bjola

Coplen

2022

Int. Negot.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has altered international diplomacy, with many negotiations now conducted in ‘virtual venues’ facilitated by videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Interprefy. Drawing on a survey of diplomats with experience in virtual venue negotiation, we analyze respondents’ perceptions of efficacy, tactics, and legitimacy in these venues. We find that virtual venues not only affect the format, but also the substance of negotiations. In general, perceptions of efficacy are related to diplomats’ ability to ‘read the room’. Virtual venues also impact negotiations at the tactical level. We find that coercive approaches (including novel tactics) are more common than persuasive approaches. Overall, these venues are afforded the same legitimacy as face-to-face negotiations. We conclude that, as virtual venues will be a feature of international diplomacy for the foreseeable future, further research is required to inform increased diplomatic adaptation and hybridity.

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Introduction

Aggestam,

Rosamond,

Hedling

2024

Global Foreign Policy Studies

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This chapter introduces the study of the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. It unpacks two transformative and intersecting developments: (1) Sweden’s adoption of a distinct feminist branding of its foreign policy and (2) the embrace of digitalisation in diplomacy. In 2014, Sweden made history by becoming the first country in the world to launch a feminist foreign policy. This pioneering political move demanded both visibility and global attention, prompting Sweden to explore new digital environments and social media platforms, which would offer both scale and reach. Subsequently, several other states followed suit, embracing Sweden’s feminist foreign policy as a model of foreign policy conduct. This feminist shift in global politics has given rise to contestation, resistance and rejection by a range of global actors. This chapter advances a novel conceptual framework for studying the relationship between feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. The framework employs three key concepts: (a) articulation, (b) resonance and (c) contestation. These concepts are used to analyse Sweden’s feminist foreign policy leadership, nation branding and visual representation in global politics.

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A New Paradigm for EU Diplomacy? EU Council Negotiations in a Time of Physical Restrictions

Cited by 13 publications

References 13 publications

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

Virtual Venues and International Negotiations: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

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