International Diplomacy

In theory international diplomacy enables sovereign states to communicate, negotiate, and cooperate with one another. As well as those 3 it's functions are intelligence gathering, image management, policy implementation & promoting interests. In international negotiations there needs to be a clear goal and strategy of what can be exchanged to reach an agreement. All very noble, but does it work?

There are organisations that rely on international participation such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation & the International Monetary Fund. NATO, (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), is different in that it is a political and military alliance of countries just from Europe and North America.

According to the Carnegie Endowment UN aid programs save lives but are often slow, bureaucratic, and occasionally marred by cowardice and/or mismanagement. Particularly the Security Council, is in desperate need of reform. It is definitely one of the most dysfunctional parts of the UN, largely due to the widening ideological gulf between the five veto-wielding permanent members, (P5),usually Russia and China on one side and the United States, UK, and France on the other. Numerous member states have competing interests which challenge international order. Time and again, the Security Council has failed to take any action because one or more P5 members blocks things using their veto. The organization has to become more efficient and less political to tackle the multitude of crises it faces. It's a toothless tiger.

I have recently seen amazing documentaries showing just how America & it's European allies failed spectacularly in the Jugoslavian war of 1993 - 1995. UN troops watched the Srebrenica genocide & were unable to do anything. Then again, in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when 1,074,017 people were brutally killed  94% of whom were Tutsi.

Today the Israeli government is waging war in Gaza & allowing atrocities in the West Bank. There is a real danger that will escalate to Lebanon & Iran. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but the war has continued on & off since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. War began in Sudan in April 2023, but little appears in the press or media & it's hard to see that there is any international diplomacy going on. 8.2 million people have been displaced. More than 25 million need humanitarian assistance, and deteriorating food security risks are triggering the worlds largest hunger crisis.

More than ever we need international dialogue & international solutions to the dire situations that beset us. Overarching everything is the Climate Emergency, which will never be solved unless all countries act in the interests of everyone. All to often, particularly in America, (but they are not alone), self interest overrides the necessity for hard choices to be made for the benefit of others. If you live in a war torn country where death & devastation mark every hour of every day you need a United Nations that can force a cease fire & negotiation. If you are in danger of starvation, through no fault of your own, you need a United Nations that can deliver temporary food supplies & a long term, concerted, effort to ensure it doesn't happen again.

I have just lost faith that we have the people or organisations that can get us out of this. Our only hope is the NGO's, the Charities, who understand the problems & can see what needs doing. Diplomatic language won't solve this mess. We need people who will speak truth to power & we can all do that in our own way. 

We should care. We should make ourselves heard.