HomeGlobal diplomacy and natural resources
Global diplomacy and natural resources
Diplomatie globale et ressources naturelles
Stakes, practices and influences of non-state actors (18th-21st centuries)
Enjeux, pratiques et influences des acteurs non-étatiques (XVIIIe-XXIe siècle)
Published on lundi, octobre 06, 2014
Summary
Since the end of the Cold war, the activity of non-State actors has attracted considerable attention as part of an increasingly globalised governance and diplomacy. As Richard Langhorne has remarked, the 1961 Congress of Vienna ‘marked both the culmination and the beginning of the end of classical diplomacy’, in which ‘the State ha[d] been, since the seventeenth century, the principal and sometimes the only, effective actor’. As Langhorne and Hamilton have convincingly argued in The Practice of Diplomacy, today’s diplomacy is characterised by a ‘blurring [of] the distinctions between what is diplomatic activity and what is not, and who, therefore are diplomats and who are not’.Quite revealing of this change on the international diplomatic stage is the proliferation and the increased importance of multifarious non-State actors (NSA). The waning of classical State diplomacy has thus been paralleled by the advent of transnational organisations, which, whether public or private, now play a key role in the conduct of diplomacy.
Announcement
Argument
Since the end of the Cold war, the activity of non-State actors has attracted considerable attention as part of an increasingly globalised governance and diplomacy. As Richard Langhorne has remarked, the 1961 Congress of Vienna ‘marked both the culmination and the beginning of the end of classical diplomacy’,[1] in which ‘the State ha[d] been, since the seventeenth century, the principal and sometimes the only, effective actor’.[2] As Langhorne and Hamilton have convincingly argued in The Practice of Diplomacy, today’s diplomacy is characterised by a ‘blurring [of] the distinctions between what is diplomatic activity and what is not, and who, therefore are diplomats and who are not’.[3] Quite revealing of this change on the international diplomatic stage is the proliferation and the increased importance of multifarious non-State actors (NSA). The waning of classical State diplomacy[4] has thus been paralleled by the advent of transnational organisations, which, whether public or private, now play a key role in the conduct of diplomacy. Amongst these, one finds: non-governmental organisations (such as Doctors without Borders, Greenpeace or Amnesty International), multinational corporations (for instance Total or Microsoft), interstate and/or supranational agencies (like the International Monetary Fund, UNICEF or the World Trade Organization), etc. Actions undertaken by other, possibly minor, non-State actors such as regions, indigenous nations, churches, volunteers in civil society and individuals should not be overlooked either. Even if some traditional diplomatic actors sometimes regret or fear that NSA may cause a crisis of representation in the context of lessened State sovereignty, NSA cannot be ignored and are fully-fledged participants in 21st-century diplomacy.
In recent years, there have been innumerable studies on diplomacy, many of them discussing very new concepts (new public diplomacy, economic diplomacy, humanitarian diplomacy,[5] etc.) which emerged in the wake of the collapse of the bipolar system in the 1990s and the 9/11 attack, thereby attesting that diplomacy is yet again ‘in transition’.[6] At the same time, the politics of natural resources has increasingly become the focus of such studies, as attested by the coinage of ‘resource diplomacy’ in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Whereas resource diplomacy, whose object often is securing access to natural resources, has long been the privilege of States striving for hegemony, the coming of NSA in the resource diplomacy game has modified its rules, with NSA either opposing, strengthening or even replacing States’ official diplomacy in that particular branch. The involvement of NSA is giving resource diplomacy a new meaning, as their purpose often overrides the mere appropriation, control or management of natural resources. Resource protection and sustainable resource management and exploitation at the regional, national, transnational and international levels also count amongst possible objectives of NSA.
Until now, concepts of NSA and resource diplomacy have mostly been used to analyse the post-WWII period. However, a few historians, in particular James Pamment,[8] have recently shown that NSA have long existed in the margins of official diplomacy and are not a mere emanation of 20th- and 21st-century globalisation. This approach opens up new perspectives which emphasize continuities, rather than rupture in the history of diplomacy. Also, it is increasingly argued that natural resources have always been a major stake in international relations.
The objective of this conference is to show that the influence and empowerment of NSA in resource diplomacy not only relates to contemporary global diplomacy, but need to be considered in a broader historical framework. This conference will focus on the diplomacy of the English-speaking world from the late 18th century, when diplomacy became institutionalised in Great Britain and the United States with respectively the establishment of the Foreign Office in 1782 and the State Department in 1789. Britain, whose Empire had been greatly increased by the end of the 19th century, and the United States, which progressively became a super-State by the 20th century, have exerted their influence throughout the world, ranging from Asia to Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the Arctic. Rather than focus on the official diplomacy of these two powers, this conference will seek to highlight the influence of British and American non-State actors over the period under study in resource diplomacy. In the past, such NSA could range from, for instance, merchants’ networks involved in chartered companies to philanthropic organisations, explorers, entrepreneurs or journalists. Nowadays, NSA include non-governmental organisations, multinational corporations, regions, interstate and supranational agencies, communities, indigenous nations, etc. In particular, this conference will attempt to assess how natural resources are both a much sought-after asset at the heart of second-track diplomacy, but also the basis, and sometimes even a pretext, for far-reaching negotiations and claims.
Conference organisers invite papers, in French or English, addressing, inter alia, the following issues:
natural resources as economic, humanitarian, security stakes
- the involvement of NSA against the plunder of natural resources aiming at political destabilisation (for instance poaching, smuggling, etc.)
- the involvement of NSA in conflicts over natural resources
- effective natural resources management as the source of national empowerment for indigenous peoples
- the role of NSA in the sustainable development and international sustainable management of natural resources
- the strategies used by NSA in resource diplomacy (militancy, public diplomacy, negotiations, deals and alliances, etc.)
- the relationship between State actors and non-State actors
- NSA views/ declarations on issues of access to & exploitation of natural resources
Proposals envisaging these issues over the longue durée and/or from a comparative perspective are also welcome.
Bibliography
[1] Richard Langhorne, ‘The Diplomacy of Non-State Actors’, Diplomacy and Statecraft, vol. 16 (2005), p. 331.
[2] Keith Hamilton & Richard Langhorne, The Practice of Diplomacy: Its Evolution, Theory and Administration, Abingdon & New York: Routledge, (1995), 2011, p. 3.
[3] Ibid.,p. 139.
[4] However, experts from the field of diplomacy have recently noticed a return to Westphalia on the part of developing countries like China and India, whose diplomacy now tend to rely on the principles traditionally associated with old diplomacy, namely: mutual non-interference, an emphasis on sovereignty and formal equality of states. The fact that the resurgence of a more Classical form of diplomacy essentially happens in Asia has led to the coining of the new concept of ‘Eastphalia’ in diplomatic studies. See in particular: Tom Ginsburg, ‘Eastphalia as the perfection of Westphalia’, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol. 17, no. 1 (2010), pp. 27-45.
[5] Philippe Régnier, “The Emerging Concept of Diplomacy: Identification of a Community of Practice and Prospects for International Recognition”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 93, n° 884, December 2011, p. 1211,http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2011/irrc-884-reginier.pdf (Accessed 16 July, 2014).
[6] Hamilton & Langhorne, op. cit., p. 139.
[7] Elena Blanco and Jona Razzaque, Globalisation and Natural Resources Law: Challenges, Key Issues and Perspectives, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011.
[8] James Pamment, New Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century: A Comparative Study of Policy and Practice, London & New York: Routledge, 2013.
Guidelines submission
Abstracts (no longer than 250 words) should be sent to the following email address with a bio-bibliographical note:colloqueglobaldiplomacy@gmail.com
before 12 November 2014.
Participants will be notified soon afterwards, following peer reviewing by the scientific committee.
The symposium will take place 2-3 July, 2015 to Paris-Diderot University (LARCA)
Organising committee
- Laurence Cros (LARCA, Paris-Diderot University),
- Maggy Hary (LARCA, Paris-Diderot University),
- Stéphanie Prévost (LARCA, Paris-Diderot University),
- Mélanie Torrent (LARCA, Paris-Diderot University).
Scientific Committee
- Paul Cheney (University of Chicago),
- Gérard Chouin (IFRA Nigeria),
- Annick Cizel (Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 University),
- Gilles Giheux (Paris-Diderot University),
- Amelia Hadfield (Canterbury Christ Church, UK),
- David Haglund (Queen’s University, Canada),
- Paule Halley (Laval University, Canada),
- Trevor Harris (Picardie Jules Verne University),
- Allan Potofsky (LARCA, Paris-Diderot University),
- Sandrine Tolazzi (Grenoble University),
- Julien Zarifian (Cergy-Pontoise University).
Subjects
Places
- Paris, France (75)
Date(s)
- mercredi, novembre 12, 2014
Keywords
- diplomatie, ressource naturelle, ONG, acteur non-étatique, mulitnationale, conflit, développement durable
Contact(s)
- Mélanie Torrent
courriel : melanietorrentupjv [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- Mélanie Torrent
courriel : melanietorrentupjv [at] gmail [dot] com
To cite this announcement
« Global diplomacy and natural resources », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on lundi, octobre 06, 2014, https://calenda-formation.labocleo.org/300778
