The role of foreign diplomats in conflict prevention
An increasing number of governments include the prevention of violent intra-state conflicts in their foreign and security policy. Yet, early preventive action creates an inherent challenge for country-based diplomats, i.e. members of the foreign policy architecture posted in missions abroad.
As an essentially political objective, conflict prevention relates to core governance issues such as rule of law, social inclusion or civil-military relations. How do foreign diplomats that are supposed to refrain from interfering in another country’s domestic affairs manage this challenge?
The research project investigates contemporary practices of preventive diplomacy on the ground. Based on field research and in-depth interviews with members of the diplomatic community as well as national elites in Sri Lanka and another country, it elucidates common practices in raising sensitive political issues and differences between countries.
It studies four areas of preventive action: knowledge production and analysis, policy-making and mobilizing organisational responses, international coordination between different actors on the ground, and engagement with local elites in government and society. The project takes a practice theoretical approach, following the sociological turn in the study of diplomacy and international intervention.
Using textual analysis of policy documents, qualitative interviews and some participant observation, it aims at identifying a fine-grained typology of preventive practices as well as the contextual factors structuring their production and performance. These factors include state resources and role conceptions; organizational culture and career incentives; discourse, frames and cognitive-psychological factors; relations and networks between international and national actors; personal skills and practical knowledge of preventive diplomacy.