New topics emerge for diplomatic studies.

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As globalization progresses, the international community is undergoing profound changes, especially in the fields of economics and politics, creating new topics for diplomatic studies.
In the new era, the international community has formed a multidimensional network of relations among countries through the flow of information, capital and population. Diplomatic studies cannot apply a rigid framework to analyze all the issues.

The following factors must be considered in diplomatic research: Whether a foreign policy impacts the interests of other areas and whether the results are predictable; how to foster and promote new policy principles and build new values that can influence foreign policy; how to attract more elites to engage in global issues, and how to create new concepts for global policy reform based on a country’s own experience. The aforementioned topics should be investigated from the perspective of interactions between China and foreign countries.

Technological development is also closely related to changes in foreign relations. Today, advancements in transportation technologies have facilitated the use of multilateral diplomacy and summits. The relationship between diplomacy and the Internet is another promising area for diplomatic studies. Public opinions in cyberspace are increasingly affecting diplomatic activity.
The cooperation, competition and conflict among countries have expanded from geographic space to cyberspace. The Internet is becoming a more political domain and a diplomatic tool for developed countries, like the United States. For developing countries, a major task is to defend the Internet frontier and safeguard national security.

Moreover, more research should be done to explore how to improve the role and functions of foreign affairs departments. More and more international organizations serve overlapping functions, which complicates the way foreign affairs departments handle their relationships with these organizations. Also, the proliferation of contentious global issues requires the establishment of more institutions as well as the restructuring of existing ones.

Many countries have begun to adjust their diplomatic sectors. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development in France announced that its reforms are intended to conform to the trend of globalization and cope with challenges it poses. The US Department of State set up an Assistant Secretary of State responsible for public diplomacy.

Diplomatic studies should pay attention to emerging groups of players in diplomatic negotiations and the new missions of diplomatic activities. Negotiations are at the core of diplomatic activities. As expertise becomes increasingly important in global governance, more countries are inviting experts to participate in diplomatic negotiations. It is essential to study the roles that experts play in these negotiations and the ways each country strives to enhance its influence on international rules in the professional domain.

In addition, globalization brings about new missions for diplomacy. For example, as business and leisure travel increases, foreign affairs departments have a duty to protect the legal rights of their citizens and enterprises overseas. Also, as transnational issues become ever more complicated, departments should seek ways to protect national interests in both traditional and non-traditional security areas.

Usually, any given country’s domestic issues are closely related to the international situation. Therefore, in addition to a country’s own interests and domestic demands, foreign policy should take into consideration the international and regional atmosphere as well as a country’s foreign relations. Furthermore, emergencies can gain immediate attention in cyberspace and be magnified, affecting diplomatic relations. Hence, foreign affairs departments are tasked with the mission of fostering critical advantages when handling foreign affairs in new social spaces.

 

Liu Xinghua is an associate professor from the Zhou Enlai School of Government at Nankai University.