Global South Perspectives on Diplomacy

Global South Perspectives on Diplomacy

By : Yolanda Kemp Spies

Release date: Sep 2018

Palgrave Macmillan

Number of pages: 278

ISBN: 978-3030005290

  • Includes a comprehensive overview of the various methods used in contemporary diplomatic practice, with attention to the unique challenges of developing states
  • Explains the growing role and specialization of non-state-actors in the domain of diplomacy
  • Analyzes “structural diplomacy”, i.e. the quest by the Global South to ensure participation and equity in global governance

"In this splendid follow-up volume, Yolanda Spies offers a comprehensive, careful and, above all, timely analysis of the institutions and practice of diplomacy as seen from different perspectives in the Global South. These perspectives have always been understudied and undervalued in the established diplomatic order, but as that order disestablishes itself, new and fresh perspectives like the ones set out here will be at a premium."
—Paul Sharp, Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota, USA

“Global South Perspectives on Diplomacy is not just another book. It gives compelling insight into the organisation and structuring of diplomacy. The reader can feel and experience the thinking behind the Global South’s evolution in international politics and diplomacy. That’s what makes the book unique for all professionals working in the international arena, from whatever place in the world you are coming from.”
—Ron Ton, Director of Clingendael Academy and trainer in diplomacy, negotiations and mediation, The Netherlands

“Global South Perspectives on Diplomacy is a useful addition to a field that has been occupied primarily by scholars and practitioners from the Global North. Yolanda Spies competently engages broad debates on major forms of diplomacy and their relevance to contemporary international relations. This is a book that will be used widely in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in diplomacy.”
—Gilbert M. Khadiagala, Professor of International Relations and Director, African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

This volume is a comprehensive overview of the various methods used in contemporary diplomatic practice. It incorporates the traditional modes of diplomacy and explains how these modes have evolved to deal with a burgeoning international community of state and non-state actors, the information and communications revolution and the changing profile of global conflict. The pursuit of “development diplomacy” is an integral part of the project, with due attention to the fault-lines, microcosms of power-politics and rapid evolution within the society of states that make up the Global South. All chapters are extensively illustrated with recent case examples from across the world.

Yolanda Kemp Spies is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.