The most important aspect of the new diplomacy

Bilateral diplomacy is an old institution that has adapted to an increasingly globalised world and the importance of multilateral diplomacy has increased dramatically. Multilateralism took off after the First World War with the League of Nations which demonstrated the expectation that public diplomacy and a united response could lead to a more peaceful world.

The League of Nations was a response to international affairs increasingly involving several countries and a need to establish a group of states collectively addressing their challenges. The founders of the League believed that diplomacy conducted in public was likely to preserve peace more than the traditional secret diplomacy.

In order to achieve mutually beneficial solutions, multilateral organisations have been formed and a culture of collective cooperation has become pervasive in contemporary world politics as we have seen countries unite in the fight against the economic recession, terrorism and climate change. There have been multilateral trade agreements such as the World trade Organisation; states have formed alliances with multilateral common policies like the European Union and institutions like the World Bank have been set up to fight poverty.

Nongovernmental organisations also have an important role in multilateral diplomacy due to the technological advances in communication which means they can focus the attention of individuals, the media and governments onto their issues. They are committed to fighting poverty, maintaining economic stability and peace and claim to represent the interests of groups of people, normally separate from the state although these days they have become so effective that governments sometimes channel their aid money through them.

They use soft power to change the public perceptions of what governments and firms should do. For example, firms can become the targets of NGO campaigns that ‘name and shame’ companies that mistreat their workers in poor countries and because they can attract so many supporters, governments and firms have been forced take them into account.

The process of globalization in our time and the resulting problems require a united response and although governments remain the major actors in international politics, when they get it wrong, NGOs act as pressure groups and call issues to the public’s attention.