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Aḥmad al-Ghazzāl was a Moroccan scribe and litterateur who served as Sultan Muḥammad III's (r. 1757-1790) chief diplomat to Spain from 1766 to 1775. In this capacity he wrote over thirty letters to his Spanish and other foreign counterparts around the Mediterranean. We use these letters to examine how al-Ghazzāl strategically employed Middle Arabic, defined as a written variety that incorporates both classical and colloquial elements, as part of an effective diplomatic agenda. His use of Middle Arabic combined previously established norms with innovations that have up to now not been documented in this period or genre. Proposing a historical-linguistic analysis, we argue that al-Ghazzāl's innovative rhetorical strategies offer insight into both spoken and written Arabic in the early modern period and developments in diplomatic thought and practice from a North African perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current evidence linking long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and mortality is primarily based on persons that live in the same residence, city and/or country throughout the study, with few residential moves or relocations. We propose a novel method to quantify the health impacts of PM2.5 for United States (US) diplomats who regularly relocate to international cities with different PM2.5 levels. Methods: Life table methods were applied at an individual-level to US mortality statistics using the World Health Organization's database of city-specific PM2.5 annual mean concentrations. Global Burden of Disease concentration-response (C-R) functions were used to estimate cause-specific mortality and days of life lost (DLL) for a range of illustrative 20-year diplomatic assignments for three age groups. Time lags between exposure and exposure-related mortality risks were applied. Sensitivity analysis of baseline mortality, exposure level, C-R functions and lags was conducted. The effect of mitigation measures, including the addition of air purifiers, was examined. Results: DLL due to PM2.5 exposure for a standard 20-year assignment ranged from 0.3 days for diplomats' children to 84.1 days for older diplomats. DLL decreased when assignments in high PM2.5 cities were followed by assignments in low PM2.5 cities: 162.5 DLL when spending 20 years in high PM2.5 cities compared to 62.6 DLL when spending one of every four years (5 years total) in a high PM2.5 city for older male diplomats. Use of air purifiers and improved home tightness in polluted cities may halve DLL due to PM2.5 exposure. The results were highly sensitive to lag assumptions: DLL increased by 68% without inception lags and decreased by 59% without cessation lags for older male diplomats. Conclusion: We developed a model to quantify health impacts of changing PM2.5 exposure for a population with frequent relocations. Our model suggests that alternating assignments in high and low PM2.5 cities may help reduce PM2.5-related mortality burdens. Adding exposure mitigation at home may help reduce PM2.5 related mortality. Further research on outcome-specific lag structures is needed to improve the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers a Sammelband of the early works of Margaret Cavendish deposited at Leiden University Library in 1658. It examines the context of this donation, taking into account the role played by Cavendish's acquaintance, the Dutch diplomat and multilingual poet Constantijn Huygens, and the formal letter of acknowledgment supplied by the university's Rector Magnificus, Antonius Thysius the Younger. The assumption of previous scholarship that Huygens himself prepared the volume's unique Latin index or table of contents, which gave Continental readers unfamiliar with English some measure of access to Cavendish's vernacular writings, is further developed, and Thomas Warren is identified as the likely printer. The Sammelband is understood as a testament both to Cavendish's intellectual ambitions and to cultural connections between early modern England and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For centuries Eastern Churches only employed the semantron , usually an elongated piece of wood that is struck with a hammer, to gather the faithful. Eventually, most adopted bell ringing, even though semantra continue to be used by some Orthodox Churches. In the West bells were rung for the same purpose and the semantron was unknown. As a result, Western pilgrims, diplomats, and other travellers to the eastern Mediterranean were astonished and intrigued when they encountered the instrument. This article looks at their descriptions and discusses how the instrument and its sounds were used to other Oriental Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has been accompanied by significant global changes that confound traditional diplomacy. This article focuses on modern diplomacy and the four main challenge areas it faces. These challenges necessitate diplomatic adaptation to remain relevant and effective. To achieve this modernization, the author suggests the implementation of a newly created hierarchy for the selection, training, deployment, ranking, and promotion of a more specialized diplomatic corps. This process is envisioned to occur within four streams of specialization, each with its own type of expert diplomat. This new diplomatic tool is called the Specialist Diplomatic Hierarchy (SDH). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to investigate to what extent, how, and when individuals who are below the leader's level affect the processes and outputs of international politics. It does so by analyzing one group of below-leader actors—diplomatic negotiators in EU foreign policy. It first shows how, despite all the bureaucratic layers they are embedded in, individual negotiators have de facto acquired ultimate policymaking responsibilities, most prominently in the selection of tactics. This empowerment of individual diplomats occurs through a process of double state disaggregation: Policymaking responsibilities have shifted from the political to the bureaucratic level; then, within the latter, from the capital-based administration to the officials involved, often in single capacity, in negotiations. Next, it tests three individual characteristics (experience, style, and identity) against an original dataset of 138 questionnaires completed by EU diplomats and 17 interviews. It shows that negotiators' personal traits explain the use of some, but not all, tactics. Specifically, they are less likely to matter when negotiators have to commit the state in significant and explicit ways, e.g. when threatening/exercising veto. When this does not happen (e.g. showing flexibility in the delegation's position or using persuasion), the influence of individual characteristics is instead strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates boundary spaces and agents in one social field: the socialization of diplomatic and European Union (EU) professionals in Europe. Theoretically, I combine the geographical work on boundary practices in diplomacy with the Bourdieusian scholarship on transnational fields in sociology and international relations. Empirically, I examine the institutional settings in which the professionals who move in EU diplomacy are trained and socialized. I theorize such settings as interstitial fields to highlight their ambiguous and in-between character. The professionals who move in such fields are nomadic figures who link and mediate multiple national, institutional, and cultural settings: they are both diplomats and Eurocrats at the same time. The paper foregrounds the hinge-like spaces and practices that regulate the production of diplomatic and EU-related expertise in contemporary Europe. It thereby contributes to our understanding of the workings of international governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the peacemaking and peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations (UN) Palestine Commission, which was charged with implementing the General Assembly's Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine between January and May 1948. First, I argue here that the marginalization of the Commission in past literature is unjustified. Its very ineffectiveness in real time made it an important analytical case study in retrospect, elucidating the obstacles that prevented the fulfilment of the Partition Plan and exemplifying the general UN retreat from Resolution 181 shortly after its adoption. Second, the critique levied against the personal/professional abilities of its delegates by some of its contemporaries seems exaggerated; more important were the external, insurmountable problems the Commission faced, which would have likely overwhelmed even the best of diplomats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article briefly examines the life of Mori Arinori, who in 1871 became Japan's first resident diplomat in Washington, D.C., with the primary assignment of making preparations for the upcoming Iwakura Mission. Mori's pedigree of being from a samurai family from Satsuma domain and his unusual background of having already lived in Britain and the United States led senior officials of the new Meiji Imperial government to name Mori to the all-important position of being Japan's top representative to the United States despite his youth – he was only 23 years old at the time of his appointment. Notwithstanding his occasional impatience with Japanese traditions and the more reserved senior officials of the Iwakura Embassy, Mori's connections in Washington D.C., his understanding of American society, and his skill at the English language significantly contributed to the institutional, cultural, and economic information that members of the Japanese delegation gathered. Mori's post-Washington career as an intellectual, diplomat, and top education official in Japan in the late 1870s and 1880s also contributed to his country's progression from the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the cusp of Japan's international recognition as a major power in a world being transformed by industrialization and imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do states sustain failing policy? The literature on path dependency and cognitive habits shows how foreign policy logics become axiomatic. Yet these explanations focus too much on people and not enough on policies. We argue that the content of policies matters for the degree and depth of their entrenchment. Policies with long-term time horizons, immeasurable objectives and diffuse effects are especially vulnerable to stasis. Engagement policies toward China are a paradigmatic example. We focus on Canada's engagement policy, which exhibits both stasis and change, and refer to similar policies of other countries. Drawing on primary evidence including interviews with high-level diplomats and decision-makers, we find that engagement aimed at socializing China was sustained despite growing evidence of its failure—including through a multi-year diplomatic crisis. Change only became possible through 'institutionalized debate', meaning the purposeful creation of formal channels for debate. The article makes three contributions. First, we identify a novel explanation of stasis, showing that the content of policies matters. Second, we introduce a practical pathway—institutionalized debate—that can disrupt stasis once a policy logic is habituated. Finally, we identify an aspect of socialization ignored in the literature: when operationalized as policy, it becomes resistant to reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biography of Sam Joseph Ntiro, the Tanzanian artist, is presented. He was born in 1923 in Tanganyika and studied at Makerere College in Uganda. He then enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and later joined the University of London. He is married to Evangeline Sarah Nyendwoha, and they have children. His approach to dealing with modern African art, his dual roles as an artist and diplomat, and his contributions to East African cultural and political life are discussed.

Copyright of Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural is the property of Sociedad Espanola para el Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How do managerial bureaucracies emerge? We consider this central question of Chandlerian business history by examining how Tata and Sons governed its steelmaking company TISCO, 1907–1925. Tata had no steelmaking knowledge and was reliant upon American expertise and personnel. This knowledge imbalance skewed power in favour of autocratic American steelmasters who wielded complete operational control. Unable to impose its will on TISCO, Tata was forced to govern through everyday diplomacy. Through everyday diplomacy, Tata introduced accounting routines to establish a hierarchy and render the American steelmasters accountable to the parent company. Every administrative and accounting process suggested by Tata's diplomat, B.J. Padshah, was resisted by the American steelmasters as an erosion of their absolute power. We contribute to our understanding of how a uniquely Indian type of enterprise, the managing agency, governed their loosely coupled subsidiaries. We extend Foucault's power/knowledge by introducing everyday diplomacy as the vehicle for establishing organisational discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mevzu is the property of Ali Sever and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has two main intelligence organizations: the Ministry of Intelligence (MOI) and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The two organizations are highly active on foreign soil with malign activities like assassinations. In 2018, the third secretary of the IRI embassy in Austria, Assadollah Assadi, was arrested and later convicted of involvement in terrorism. With the help of three of his assets, they had planned to bomb a gathering in Paris arranged by the Iranian opposition to the IRI. Assadi would later be identified as the principal intelligence officer of the MOI on the European continent. Analyzing the case of Assadi shows that the IRI has the will and resources to conduct significant terrorist operations and that the regime has a vast network of assets throughout Europe. Most significant in the failed Paris plot was that evidently the IRI Intelligence Community is likely compromised and that the regime has considerable problems in trusting its own intelligence officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Current evidence linking long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and mortality is primarily based on persons that live in the same residence, city and/or country throughout the study, with few residential moves or relocations. We propose a novel method to quantify the health impacts of PM2.5 for United States (US) diplomats who regularly relocate to international cities with different PM2.5 levels. Methods Life table methods were applied at an individual-level to US mortality statistics using the World Health Organization’s database of city-specific PM2.5 annual mean concentrations. Global Burden of Disease concentration-response (C-R) functions were used to estimate cause-specific mortality and days of life lost (DLL) for a range of illustrative 20-year diplomatic assignments for three age groups. Time lags between exposure and exposure-related mortality risks were applied. Sensitivity analysis of baseline mortality, exposure level, C-R functions and lags was conducted. The effect of mitigation measures, including the addition of air purifiers, was examined. Results DLL due to PM2.5 exposure for a standard 20-year assignment ranged from 0.3 days for diplomats’ children to 84.1 days for older diplomats. DLL decreased when assignments in high PM2.5 cities were followed by assignments in low PM2.5 cities: 162.5 DLL when spending 20 years in high PM2.5 cities compared to 62.6 DLL when spending one of every four years (5 years total) in a high PM2.5 city for older male diplomats. Use of air purifiers and improved home tightness in polluted cities may halve DLL due to PM2.5 exposure. The results were highly sensitive to lag assumptions: DLL increased by 68% without inception lags and decreased by 59% without cessation lags for older male diplomats. Conclusion We developed a model to quantify health impacts of changing PM2.5 exposure for a population with frequent relocations. Our model suggests that alternating assignments in high and low PM2.5 cities may help reduce PM2.5-related mortality burdens. Adding exposure mitigation at home may help reduce PM2.5 related mortality. Further research on outcome-specific lag structures is needed to improve the model.

No scholar has had a greater impact on the study of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs than the Swedish Orientalist and diplomat Gunnar Jarring (1907–2002). This is thanks, above all, to the remarkable archive of manuscripts from the region that he collected and curated. Known as the Jarring Collection, it may be the largest assemblage of manuscripts by Xinjiang Muslims held anywhere in the world outside China. How was this collection created, and what biases may have informed its development? By exploring the context in which the core of the Jarring Collection was developed, this article reveals unsettling allegations about Jarring's activities during a shadowy, little-known period in his life — a dark period in Sweden's history, during which academic and political elites were in thrall to a far-right zeitgeist that dovetailed with Germany's Nazi movement. The article concludes by considering some implications of the Jarring Collection's biases for the study of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Career diplomats have expertise. Why, then, do U.S. presidents appoint relative novices to key diplomatic posts? Conventional wisdom points to patronage. Yet this explanation overlooks the benefits of a diplomat's familiarity with political superiors. Inherent in delegated diplomacy is uncertainty over diplomats' ability to "deliver" on understandings reached at the negotiating table. Non-career diplomats often speak more credibly for political superiors, creating an incentive for foreign counterparts to engage in diplomacy. I theorize a tradeoff between familiarity and expertise to generate empirically testable prediction. Counterintuitively, I expect that presidents often sacrifice professional expertise to delegate important diplomatic assignments to relative amateurs, even accounting for the patronage value of the post. I find empirical support for the argument using a novel dataset on U.S. ambassadorial appointments from the Reagan through Trump administrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using recently declassified documents, this article examines the wartime work of Canada's Special Intelligence Section under diplomat Herbert Norman. This was the first experiment with all-source strategic intelligence analysis in Canada. The SIS scrutinized intercepted Japanese and French communications, and prepared regular intelligence reports on enemies' conduct of the war. Its analysis sometimes veered into prescriptions of Allied policy and grand strategy for the benefit of readers like Prime Minister Mackenzie King. During the Second World War, Canada's SIS demonstrated that intelligence personnel with deep expertise could produce insightful analyses of key global developments for strategists and decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research report argues that the promotion of a positive shared future for all humanity can be accomplished through dual-embedded transnational People's Republic of China (PRC) Chinese social actors who are self-styled Sino-Thai folk diplomats making multiple contributions in countries both of origin and of residence. Conceptually, this research report remedies unilateral state-centric diplomacy, scarcity of intra-Asian Chinese migrant studies, the limited scope of non-state actors, dichotomous categorization of transnational Chinese, and an over-emphasis on exhibitive and pretentious unilateral exports in Chinese foreign policy. Through the research-based case study of a transnational Chinese residing in Bangkok, Thailand, this research report exemplifies the multiple folk contributions to both Thailand and China. As policy considerations, this research report proffers: (1) avoiding the generalization of Chinese transnationals in Southeast Asia; (2) appreciating the growing realm of social actors and their contributions; and (3) applying a sophisticated developmental perspective to domestic governance. Against rising protectionism, xenophobia, and precarious global challenges, this research report advocates a positive shared future for all humanity through the lens of Sino-Thai folk diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Konstantin Josef Jireček is a Czech historian, diplomat and Slavist. Jireček, who studied history and philology, became interested in the Slavic peoples in the Balkans and began to write upon this subject. His grandfather, the famous Slavist Pavel Josef Šafárik, had a great influence on the shaping of Jireček’s ideas. His work titled History of the Bulgarians, which he prepared as a doctoral thesis and published later, is the first academic work that deals with Bulgarian history holistically. This work, which will be referenced by Bulgarian historiography for many years, has been handled from a Slavic perspective. Although the scientific reality is different, he based the origin of the Bulgarians on the Slavs and directed the generations to come after him to this understanding. In our study, the part of the conversion of Bulgarians to Christianity in Jireček’s History of the Bulgarians is discussed. It is noteworthy that the subject in Jireček’s work is handled with a Slavic-centered approach. In addition, in this study, the subject of the Bulgarians’ acceptance of Christianity has been tried to be discussed by giving other sources in order to compare with Jireček’s work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Arab Spring' posed major emotional challenges to European diplomats. Sympathies for the demonstrators' open embrace of European norms and values merged with discomfort about incalculable consequences following the former rulers' eventual fall. Focusing on Egypt, this contribution analyses how European diplomats reacted to Hosni Mubarak's ouster and the following developments. With their reminiscences to Europe's own history and the European Union's (EU) self-perception as 'force for good', a two-sided sense of disillusionment grew among European representatives: about the regime's eventual unwillingness to reform, and about their own incapacity to meaningfully support change. Based on extensive research in Cairo and Brussels, this article analyses the emotions that escorted the actions of officials from the EU and its member states in Egypt. From a multi-level perspective, it considers activities by the EU Delegation to Egypt and EU member states' embassies in Cairo, plus initiatives coming from Brussels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mehmed Sıdkı Efendi was temporarily assigned to London in the late 1802 to engage in negotiations for resolving Mamluk Beys Question and the complete withdrawal of the British army from Egypt. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as the charge d'affaires and had served in London for eight years until his demise. In this work, Sıdkı Efendi's charge d'affaireship has been examined in three periods based on the course of relations between the Ottoman Empire and England. The first period covers the continuation of the alliance between two countries. The second period encompasses the years during which England and the Ottoman Empire were at war. The years from the commencement of peace talks in 1808 until Sıdkı Efendi's death in 1811 were considered as the third period. Indeed, it cannot be asserted that Sıdkı Efendi had a substantial influence on the diplomatic and political relations between the Ottoman Empire and England during his presence in London. Conversely, Sıdkı Efendi was a diplomat who displayed attitudes and behaviors that did not befit a diplomat, was not taken seriously by England, and was virtually ignored even by his own state. Sıdkı Efendi was so unfortunate that, despite repeated attempts to replace him, none of these attempts materialized. He died in London without ever seeing his country again. His mission is crucial because it provides important clues as to why the initial attempt at establishing the first residence embassy and charge d'affaires, a significant stage in the transition from ad hoc diplomacy to continuous diplomacy for the Ottoman Empire, ended in failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Dutch United East India Company (VOC) had a Janus-faced position in early-modern maritime Asia as merchant and politician. The present study highlights this through the case of the Spanish-born diplomat Johannes Andreas Paravicini (1710–71). During his mission to Timor in 1756, he concluded a major contract with numerous indigenous states that ostensibly brought a major part of Timor under the VOC, in defiance of the rival Portuguese. The contract itself merits attention as literature due to its Enlightenment rhetoric and stress on general welfare, despite being accompanied by excessive physical violence, genocide, and slaving. The article furthermore scrutinizes the ceremonies and symbols that aimed to subjugate the native states. It is argued that Paravicini, while relying on local informants, misrepresented the Timorese hierarchical power structures and concepts of authority. For the Dutch, this led to a series of disappointments and setbacks in the region during the following decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of the present study is to provide a point of reference for the counterintelligence and intelligence activities in Hungary concerning Romania, and to show that Hungarian state security has been collecting information on Hungarians in Romania since the early 1970s, and using it in various ways in cooperation with the foreign affairs apparatus. The “protagonist” of the case study is a III/II secret agent, a diplomat at the Hungarian Embassy in Bucharest, who, as a result of his activities over about twelve years, reported on political events in Romania and the situation of Hungarian intellectuals, but through the informant, the activities of the Romanian secret service were observed, from which the Hungarian foreign service obtained more nuanced information beyond the traditional intelligence gathering methods. In addition, with regard to the period indicated in the title, I have examined the parts of Géza Domokos’s surveillance dossiers compiled on the basis of Securitate observations that relate to this period, and in particular those that relate to contacts in Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi is the property of Tarih Incelemeleri Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Kipus: Revista Andina de Letras y Estudios Culturales is the property of Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Sede Ecuador and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Church in the World / Crkva u Svijetu is the property of University of Split, Catholic Faculty of Theology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The United Nations is at a point of legitimacy crisis, particularly from members of the so-called Global South who have long felt underrepresented by the institution. Walking through recent debates around trust and reform of the UN system, this article provides an analysis of the UN's crisis of confidence and what can be done to reduce it. First, the article connects research on trust theories of international relations to the legitimacy and effectives of the UN. Second, it overviews recent debates about representation in the UN system, and provides an analysis of their feasibility built off of desk research and first-person interviews with diplomats and relevant sources. Results found that the UN is attempting to adapt to remain relevant, but the institution is quickly losing the trust of its membership because of its inability to evolve quickly enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: It is only in the last two decades that states have started to focus on the need to use traditional diplomatic means in discussions surrounding cyber-policy. This article explores how these discussions have been progressively 'diplomatised'. Diplomatisation is proposed in this article as a process which involves external and internal dynamics of institutionalisation and positioning, both of which are essential for the successful creation of a new diplomatic field. Understanding the emergence of cyber-diplomacy is crucial to recognise the successes, frustrations and opportunities associated with the (lack of) regulation when it comes responsible state behaviour in this domain. This article does so based on 40 interviews conducted with diplomats and experts involved in the emergence of cyber-diplomacy. It looks at the idiosyncratic evolution of this field within specific nation states as well as overall developments at the international level, particularly within the context of the United Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What determines the content of bilateral diplomacy? I argue that the foreign policy issues prioritized by specific embassies are influenced by their diplomats' sources of information. For evidence, I study the proliferation of American Chambers of Commerce (AmChams)—private interest groups composed of US firms that are operating in specific host states—over the 20th and early 21st centuries. AmChams became key sources of information for US embassies, particularly on issues of relevance to the private sector (such as tax, trade, and investment regulations). Using novel text data from approximately 1500 oral history interviews with former diplomats, and leveraging the institutional structure of diplomatic rotation, I show that diplomats who were exposed to active AmCham branches paid significantly greater attention to commercial issues. These results identify a new avenue through which interest groups can influence foreign policy, help explain the proliferation of probusiness international agreements over the past several decades, and contribute to the growing literature on diplomacy in the international political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union (EU) diplomatic representation in third countries is performed by both the Member States and by the EU Delegation. This hybrid system of representation functions through EU coordination. As social media have become important channels of state representation, coordination also takes place in the domain of digital diplomacy. This article analyzes how the EU Member State embassies and the EU Delegation coordinate EU representation through online and offline interactions. It investigates the practices of coordination and maps routines of digital sociability. The United States' capital Washington, DC provides a context of both strong bilateral relations and a history of shared EU interests. The study draws on observations on Twitter (later renamed X) between 2019 and 2021 and reflections from diplomats who engage in the coordination of EU representation, collected through an online survey and interviews. By examining the reciprocity between online and offline interactions, the study illuminates how relationships are cultivated, a sense of collective belonging is fostered, and social order is negotiated. The findings enhance our understanding of how digital diplomacy is deeply embedded within diplomatic contexts and their distinctive practices. They contribute to advancing knowledge about the interplay of digital diplomacy, multilateral representation, and the dynamics that shape diplomatic engagements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that interpersonal commitment is statespersons' most highly coveted aim, the greatest benefit that interpersonal relations can yield in diplomacy. Accordingly, statespersons employ a range of relational practices in encounters with counterparts, seeking to create and harness commitment that will advance professional aims. We argue that statespersons can follow one of two paths to generate commitment: (1) creating feelings of gratitude and providing help that makes a counterpart feel indebted; or (2) cultivating friendly relations. Both demand the successful implementation of relational practices. On the basis of thirty semistructured interviews with past and present senior Israeli statespersons and an analysis of fifteen autobiographies written by senior Israeli diplomats and political figures, we demonstrate to what extent statespersons acknowledge the importance of interpersonal commitment and its ramifications; identify the relational practices that statespersons employ to elicit commitment from a counterpart; and discuss the conditions that facilitate the emergence of such a commitment. We conclude by discussing the differences between thin and thick interpersonal commitments and underlining the importance of interpersonal relations in diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Edwin O. Reischauer's role in the scholarly debates on the modern history of Japan during his ambassadorship from 1961 to 1966. It challenges Takeshi Matsuda's recent interpretation in his Soft Power, and Its Perils: U.S. Cultural Policy in Early Postwar Japan and Permanent Dependency that the "Reischauer Offensive" aimed to make Japan feel subservient, creating "a psychology of dependence." The article argues instead that Reischauer's efforts for "equal partnership" and his scholarly challenge to Marxists' interpretation brought a culture of open debate in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "ERNESTO GARZÓN VALDÉS: MEMORY AND LEGACY OF A TEACHER" talks about the life and legacy of Professor Ernesto Garzón Valdés, an outstanding contemporary philosopher of law. The author highlights the importance of his ideas and work, as well as his influence on legal culture in our time. Garzón Valdés was educated at the University of Córdoba and had the opportunity to study with renowned teachers in Spain and Germany. His teaching has left a significant mark on various university centers in Europe and America. Additionally, his ability to generate intellectual debates and his contribution to legal, moral, and political philosophy are emphasized. His work as a diplomat and his commitment to communication between different legal and political cultures worldwide are also mentioned. [Extracted from the article]

The articles discusses the application of the concept of retorsion in relation to defensive measures against hostile cyber operations. Retorsion is a concept not regulated by international law, which gives the victim state a high degree of flexibility in its use. However, its limits are formed by the rules of international law (retorsion is an unfriendly act not prohibited by international law). The paper is divided into three main parts. The first part discusses the concept of retorsion in general terms and its relation to cyber operations, the second part defines the relationship between retorsion, countermeasures, plea of necessity and the right of self-defence, and the third part consists of in-depth analysis of states' practice. The analysis of states' practices includes both the actual measures that states have taken in response to cyber operations (e.g. expulsion of diplomats, economic sanctions, travel bans) and official statements on the issue that have been published, particularly in the period 2019–2022. Attention is also paid to the possibilities of using retorsion against cyber operations carried out by non-state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]