Power and Culture ꟷ Reconceptualising Soft Diplomacy in European Studies and International Relations

Abstract

As the new globalized order is re-shaping the politics, economy and communication of the international sphere, diplomacy is correspondingly experiencing massive changes in the way it is being constructed as a means of promoting interests around the globe. Diplomacy was traditionally perceived as a way to promote national interests through direct state-to-state politics. This ‘Realpolitik’ understanding of diplomacy has shifted in recent years towards a more soften approach. Diplomacy is no longer researched solely as the practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of states, but through a wider arsenal of approaches that targets political structures, communication, language, education, culture, culinary, festivals and power relations as means of conducting vague, transitional and illusive international politics. Focusing on the European space/sphere of influence, this panel will address the growing field of inquiry that attempts to expand on the new concept of diplomacy. Often treated as trivial, these new diplomatic realities have hardly been theorized and addressed in contemporary writings. Examining under-researched scopes of actors’ foreign relations and international relations, can open a window onto new and challenging aspects of diplomatic inquiry, mostly questioning the state’s control on its own international actions. While relying on the main theoretical pillars of European studies and international relations, this panel will discuss ‘diplomacy’ in the broader sense of the term and will present current political phenomena that demonstrate the EU’s (as well as other neighboring actors’) attempts to promote its/their interest/s in the global sphere.