The pragmatics of amicable interstate communication

Abstract

This paper proposes a research agenda for studying the building blocks of amicable communication and their role in fostering sociability between states. Against the backdrop of linguistic-pragmatic, international relations, and communication theories, it first theorizes the state as a communicating actor in social interactions and conceptualizes amicable actions and their potential to advance relations in interstate communication. On the basis of 2,180 amicable statements performed by a variety of international actors in a range of communicative contexts, a classification according to variations, intended goals, and prevalence of amicable actions is suggested. The findings show a preference to perform interstate communication through solidarity-oriented and expressive actions. Asserting friendship and thanking were found to be the most popular actions, frequently utilized by international actors in a range of ceremonial contexts. Paying respect and expressions of honor were found to be the most frequent strategy for showing one’s deference to the other’s sovereignty and autonomy. In the conclusions, we argue for the importance of studying the pragmatics of interstate communication and point to factors that need to be confronted in the future in order to answer the overarching question: Under what conditions do amicable actions achieve their ends?

“Wait With Falling in Love”: Discursive Evaluation of Amicable Messages Conveyed by Opponents

“…Our corpus consisted of 66 reports about unexpected amicable messages toward Israel made by controversial foreign statespersons stimulating 2,037 reactions in comment sections, social networking posts, and discussion forums. The corpus was compiled in two steps: First, we used an existing corpus of reports about amicable messages collected in a previous study that consisted of 323 amicable statements delivered in direct quote in news reports published in two influential Israeli newspapers— Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth —between 2013 and 2015 (see Kampf et al, 2019). In this corpus, we identified relevant reports about statements performed by controversial foreign statespersons.…”

“…2 Amicable message is a blanket term that aims to capture both the restoration (conciliatory messages made against the backdrop of a transgression or tension) and maintenance (gestures between allied states against the backdrop of only mild tension) of relations. Building on the literature of what can be termed relational diplomacy (Chilton, 1990; Kampf et al, 2019; Mitchell, 2000), for the purpose of this study, we adopted the following definition for amicable actions: verbal or nonverbal messages conveyed by state representatives to signal their wish to secure solidarity or to express deference, with an overall aim to initiate, maintain, reinforce, or restore good relations between states.…”

Digital diplomacy: Face management in MFA Twitter accounts

“…In this study, we adopt the assumption that states can be perceived as social, intentional, and communicating actors (Epstein, 2010; Wendt, 2004). In this sense, we refer to interstate communication as a discursive action in which officials speak in the name of their nations while personifying their collective identities (Kampf et al, 2019; Musolff, 2018). This assumption does not differentiate between types of regimes and, therefore, does not take into account the possible asymmetries between the represented and the representative.…”

Too good to be true: The effect of conciliatory message design on compromising attitudes in intractable conflicts

“…By building on a previous study that mapped the building blocks of amicable communication and their role in fostering sociability between states (Kampf et al, forthcoming), we formulated two news items reporting on two different peace proposals by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA). 5 Our experimental manipulation was based on Israeli media reports in summer 2018 regarding an imminent new peace initiative by US President Donald Trump.…”

“… 5. Kampf et al (forthcoming) provided a comprehensive list of available means for performing amicable relations in the verbal toolbox of states. On the basis of 2180 amicable statements performed by a variety of international actors in a range of communicative contexts, they suggested a classification according to types, goals and the prevalence of verbal amicable actions. …”