Wave of peace? Tsunami disaster diplomacy in Aceh, Indonesia

This paper uses the disaster diplomacy framework to address the impact of the 26 December 2004 tsunami disaster on the decades-long conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Government of Indonesia. This framework enables the identification of a micro-factors of great importance in securing momentum for the peace talks. These factors include informal networks being created, plus disaster relief and diplomacy occurring at multiple levels through multi-way processes and the position of GAM dedicated to reconstruction activities. This paper further shows that, in the case of Aceh, the disaster had a deep influence on the peace talks between GAM and the Indonesian government and on the eventual implementation of the peace agreement reached. However, the tsunami disaster should not be considered the sole vector of peace in Aceh, but as a powerful catalyst in diplomatic talks, since negotiation between both sides were ongoing before the disaster and were favoured by recent changes in the political environment. Twenty-eight months after the tsunami catastrophe, it is actually non-disaster and internal political factors which are likely to have a more significant impact on the long-term resolution of the Aceh conflict. One important outcome is that it appears that the slow, unequal and often poor reconstruction process is not hindering, or even threatening, the peace process because tsunami disaster related factors are less important for peace than non-tsunami disaster related factors, findings in line with previous disaster diplomacy case studies.     

Mundane diplomacies for the practice of European geopolitics

This paper offers a practice-based account of diplomacy given that diplomats are central to the production and circulation of geopolitics. We contend that there is a changing geography of diplomacy underway from state-centred to “integrative diplomacy”, prompting the need for reorganisation of the modalities that shape and regulate state presence. Such reorganisation brings with it the challenge of fashioning new pathways of diplomatic engagement to counter the disordering of routinized mundane diplomatic practices, alongside new possibilities for diplomatic space to be used by various actors and interests. In sum, the move to integrative diplomacy commands closer academic attention to the contemporary geographies of diplomatic practice, and how these practices are transacted in diverse spatial settings, sites and domains, under conditions of multiple contestation of state authority and legitimacy. Using extensive European empirical materials, we argue that the ways in which diplomats devise, trial, make claims and counter-claims about geopolitical representations are ripe for practice-based analysis. We do this through an exploration of diplomacy’s geographical dimensions, that is, its everyday spaces and places, orderings and transactions and show how practices can go awry in the move to integrative diplomacy.     

Diplomacy and audit: Technologies of knowledge in Europe

This article investigates diplomatic knowledge production in Europe—mostly in European Union institutions but also in the member states—to probe the role of audit culture in that professional field. Diplomatic knowledge refers to the knowledge about places that is produced by career diplomats; audit culture refers to a form of regulatory power that shapes thought and action through the continuous application of measurable standards. Empirically, the analysis draws from nearly one hundred interviews with policy professionals, mostly but not exclusively in Brussels, to examine the play of qualitative and intangible skills in diplomatic work. Conceptually, it foregrounds the growing impact of audit in that sphere. I observe the narratives of efficiency, economy, and flexibility in European diplomacy, and I highlight tensions around the value of different forms of knowledge in the profession. By foregrounding the intellectual and creative facets of diplomatic work and by examining the impact of audit culture on the profession, the article helps us understand how diplomats produce knowledge about the world. It thereby enriches geographical scholarship on geopolitical knowledge and policy processes.     

Montreal Protocol at 30: The governance structure,the evolution,and the Kigali Amendment

Scientific discoveries, national regulations, and international agreements impact our lives. If we bring all three together in a solid but flexible governance structure, then we are able to address those impacts and share more evenly their consequences across different nations. This is what the Montreal Protocol has done in its 30 years of life and will continue to do thanks to the recent Kigali Amendment. There are many lessons for diplomacy to be drawn from the recent negotiations, including the critical role of science. The most important lesson in reaching consensus is the injection of optimism, pride, ownership of the process, and building trust among all nations. The solid yet flexible foundation of the Montreal Protocol provided a firm grounding for the Kigali negotiations to experiment with the different negotiating techniques in a forum where countries, industry, non-governmental organizations, and scientists are brought together by the United Nations.     

Articulating an Indian diaspora in South Africa: The Consulate General of India,diaspora associations and practices of collaboration

Engagements between sending states and their diasporas have come under increasing critical scrutiny. Whilst political geographers have driven critical analysis of national level policies, debates have largely overlooked the broader range of actors, transactions and practices involved in implementing national policies in a geohistorically diverse array of diasporic contexts and settings. Over the last decade, the Indian government has invested significant resources in overseas diplomatic missions, consulates and high commissions to administer its diaspora outreach strategies. This paper examines the role of the Consulate General of India (CGI) in Durban, South Africa, focusing in particular on the networks of agents, associations, groups and political actors involved in collaborating with the CGI Durban in diaspora outreach practices. This paper draws on two periods of fieldwork in Durban between 2004 and 2005 and was supplemented by ongoing visual and textual analysis of news articles, promotional material, reports and websites. Using the concept of articulation, the paper highlights the discursive and performative practices involved in bringing together the agendas of the GOI with those of South African Indian diaspora associations through the outreach practices of the CGI in Durban. It argues that articulatory practices are essential to resolving some of the subjective and embodied dilemmas and contestations of belonging inherent in South African Indians’ participation in diaspora outreach initiatives. Investigating how articulation contributes to drawing diverse and even competing agendas together makes room for further understanding the ways in which diaspora outreach practices can travel across a wide network, and the diverse agencies that can become catalysed in the process.     

Environmental diplomacy in South Asia: Considering the environmental security,conflict and development nexus

Environmental security concerns have broadened the national security agenda and discourse of international relations. Yet environmental insecurity issues have endured impacts on livelihood, human security, social equity, human rights, internal security, political stability, economic growth and development of the state. Environmental challenges, such as climate change, water scarcity and energy security are shaping development and consumption patterns, which are possible causes of inter-state conflict in South Asia. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the nexus of climate change, energy and water security with conflict and development. Furthermore, we argue for the need for environmental diplomacy in Pakistan within the South Asian context. The argument is that integration of development with environmental factors and peacemaking has potential to achieve sustainable development in South Asia.