IR 503
THEORIES OF DIPLOMACY
FALL 2014 syllabus
W 2.00 – 4.50 p.m.
Professor Geoffrey Wiseman
Room: SOS B40
E-mail: gwiseman@usc.edu; Tel: (213) 740 2126; Office: VKC 319
Office Hours: T 3.30 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. Th. 3.30 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. (plus after class Wed.
and by appointment)
Course Learning Goals:
In the context of growing global interest in diplomacy, this course provides a
broad understanding of the ways in which international relations and diplomatic theories
can illuminate diplomatic practice in the real world. The course will enable students from
a range of disciplines and professions to reflect on their experiences, and, by deepening
their knowledge of theories and concepts, facilitate their understanding of international
relations, in general, and diplomacy, in particular. The course analyzes both the limits and potential of diplomacy. It examines how
thinking about diplomacy has evolved, from the classical period through to the beginning
of the twenty-first century and how it might develop in the future in response to changing
issues and actors in world society and to the competing pressures of world order and
justice. The course has been created in response to growing scholarly and public interest
in diplomacy in the United States but in many other countries as well, such as China. It is
designed to meet the interdisciplinary needs and interests of students in such fields as
International Relations, Political Science, History, Journalism, and Public Diplomacy.
Theories of Diplomacy will help students understand the practical policy and
ethical dimensions of state-to-state bilateral and multilateral diplomacy as well as to
facilitate their understanding of the limits and potential of the emerging diplomatic
transnational, or polylateral, relationships between states, international organizations
(IGOs), and non-state entities.
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to apply their new
knowledge (historical, theoretical, and practical) to academic, governmental, private
sector, public diplomacy, journalistic, and non-governmental organization (NGO)
professional career settings. The class will be conducted on graduate seminar norms and
conventions with a premium placed on readings and critical class discussion of the
readings. It is a personalized and interactive course in which desktop and handheld
computers will not be used in the classroom itself, but outside. Students will do the
assigned essential readings in advance of each class, preparing brief summary notes, and
opening class discussion with short presentations that address specific questions linked to
the readings as well as to current crises and controversies.
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Grading:

Class participation (10%). Students are expected to attend all class sessions, and
to participate in class discussions. Participation will be graded on several criteria:
evidence of careful, critical analysis of weekly course materials; willingness to
volunteer for presentations and to answer questions; appropriateness, enthusiasm,
and civility of comments; eagerness to contribute to the process of discussion;
engaged listening skills; a judicious use of email; a capacity for building on and
encouraging the ideas of others; and posing constructive and thoughtful questions.

Presentations and written summaries (20%). There is a written and an oral
component. Each week, several students will make a brief, 4-5-minute
presentation answering a specific question. Presenters will distribute
electronically to the class, the day prior to the seminar, a one-page (maximum)
summary or their “answer” to the question. The presenter will speak to the
question (not read), summarizing the main argument and suggesting areas for
wider class discussion.

Mid-term short papers (30%). Students will write two short take-home papers
on questions drawing on course materials up that point of the class. (Maximum
1,000 words for each essay, including footnotes/endnotes, but not the
bibliography that will in any case be dominated by the course readings).

Final research paper (40%). This research paper will be written based on an
agreed topic that combines course themes and the student’s targeted individual
interests. Alternatively, students can write up their research as a policy memo.
(Maximum 3,000 words, including footnotes/endnotes, but not the annotated
bibliography)
Required Course Texts (purchase recommended):
(available at the USC bookstore)
Pauline Kerr and Geoffrey Wiseman (eds), Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: Theories and
Practices, New York, Oxford University Press, 2013. Companion website:
www.oup.com/us/Kerr
G. R. Berridge, Maurice Keens-Soper, and T. G. Otte, Diplomatic Theory from
Machiavelli to Kissinger, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
** Note on electronic devices: This is a seminar-based, interactive discussion course
designed inter alia to strengthen verbal and personal communication skills, such as
engaged listening. Therefore, laptop computers and similar electronic devices are not
required, nor permitted. However, you are strongly encouraged to use your computers
outside class to complement the readings and class discussion, including using the
companion website for Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: www.oup.com/us/Kerr
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COURSE OUTLINE
1. Course Scope, Content, and Themes (8/27)
Essential:
Christer Jönsson and Martin Hall, “The Study of Diplomacy,” ch. 1 in Jönsson and Hall
(eds), Essence of Diplomacy, Basingstoke (UK): Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 7-23.
Stuart Murray, Paul Sharp, David Criekmans, Geoffrey Wiseman and Jan Melissen
(eds.), Forum on “The Present and Future of Diplomacy and Diplomatic Studies,”
in International Studies Review, vol. 13 (December 2011), pp. 709–728.
Recommended:
Paul Sharp, “For Diplomacy: Representation and the Study of International Relations,”
International Studies Review, Vol.1, No.1 (1999), pp. 33–57.
Geoffrey Wiseman, “Pax Americana: Bumping into Diplomatic Culture,” International
Studies Perspectives, vol. 6, no. 4 (November 2005), pp. 409–430.
PART I: INVENTING DIPLOMACY
2. Historical and Westphalian Diplomacy (9/3)
Essential:
Raymond Cohen, “Diplomacy Through the Ages” ch. 1 in Pauline Kerr and Geoffrey
Wiseman (eds), Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: Theories and Practices
(hereafter DGW), New York, Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 15-30.
Garrett Mattingly, “The First Resident Embassies: Mediaeval Italian Origins of Modern
Diplomacy,” Speculum, Vol. 12, No. 4, 1937, pp. 423-39.
G. R. Berridge, “The Origins of the Diplomatic Corps: Rome to Constantinople,” in Paul
Sharp and Geoffrey Wiseman, The Diplomatic Corps as an Institution of
International Society (hereafter DCIIS], Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan,
December 2007, pp.15–30. .
Video-documentary: National Geographic, “Ambassador” (to be shown in class).
Corneliu Bjola, “Diplomatic Leadership in Times of International Crisis: The Maverick, The
Congregator, and The Pragmatist,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 10, no. 1
(forthcoming 2015), pp. 1-6 [Blackboard].
Recommended:
Brian Campbell, “Diplomacy in the Roman World (c.500 BC–AD 235),” Diplomacy and
Statecraft, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2001, pp. 1-22.
Raymond Cohen, “The Great Tradition: The Spread of Diplomacy in the Ancient World,”
Diplomacy and Statecraft, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2001, pp. 23-38.
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Geoffrey Wiseman and Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy,” in Richard Devetak, Anthony Burke,
and Jim George (eds.), An Introduction to International Relations, Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 258-263 [Uncorrected proofs,
Blackboard].
3. From Old (Bilateral) to New (Multilateral) Diplomacy (9/10)
Essential:
Harold Nicolson, “The Ideal Diplomatist,” Diplomacy (first published in 1939), Washington,
D.C.: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 1988, pp.55-67.
Harold Nicolson, “The Transition Between the Old Diplomacy and the New,” The Evolution
of Diplomacy (1954), New York: Collier, 1966, pp.99-125.
T. G. Otte, “Nicolson,” in Diplomatic Theory, pp.151–80.
Thomas Wright, “Bilateral and Multilateral Diplomacy in Normal Times and in Crises,”
ch. 10 in DGW, pp. 175–191.
Recommended:
Sasson Sofer, “Old and New Diplomacy” A Debate Revisited,” Review of International
Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1988, pp. 195-211.
Geoffrey Wiseman,“ Norms and Diplomacy: The Diplomatic Underpinnings of
Multilateralism,” in James P. Muldoon, Jr. et al., (eds.), The New Dynamics of
Multilateralism: Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global
Governance, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2010, pp. 5-22.
4. Cold War Diplomacy, Summit Diplomacy, the United Nations (9/17)
Essential:
The Kennan “Long Telegram,” in Kenneth M. Jensen (ed.), Origins of the Cold War: The
Novikov, Kennan, and Roberts ‘Long Telegrams” of 1946, rev. ed., Washington DC:
United States Institute of Peace, 1993, preface, 3-31, 73-95 [Blackboard].
X [George Kennan], “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 25, No. 4
(July 1947), pp. 566–82.
Berridge, “Summits,” ch. 10 in Berridge, Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, pp. 161-178
[Blackboard].
Geoffrey Wiseman and Soumita Basu, “The United Nations,” in DGW, pp. 319-335.
Recommended:
David Bosco, “Course Corrections: The Obama Administration at the United Nations,”
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 6, nos. 3-4, December 2012, pp. 335-349
[Blackboard].
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PART II: THEORIZING DIPLOMACY
5. Realist Views of Diplomacy: The state system (9/24)
First two readings for those with little/no IR background:
Jack Snyder, “One World, Rival Theories”, Foreign Policy, December 2004, pp. 53-62
[BB].
Essential:
Tim Dunne and Brian C. Schmidt, “Realism,” in Baylis, Smith and Owens, The
Globalization of World Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 91–
106 [BB].
G. R. Berridge, “Machiavelli,” in Berridge et al., Diplomatic Theory. pp.7–32;
T.G. Otte, “Kissinger, in Berridge et al., Diplomatic Theory, pp.181–203.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy and Diplomats in the Realist Tradition,” in Diplomatic Theory of
International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009, pp.53 – 71.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy in International Relations Theory and Other Disciplinary
Perspectives,” ch. 3 in DGW, esp. pp. 51-58.
Recommended:
Steven Lamy, “Worldview Analysis of International Issues,” in Steven L. Lamy (ed.),
Contemporary International Issues: Contending Perspectives, Boulder, CO:
Lynne Rienner, 1988, pp 1-25 [BB].
Hans J. Morgenthau, “Diplomacy,” ch. 31 in Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for
Power and Peace, 7th edition, 2005, pp. 539-550; 551-568 [BB].
6. Pluralist Views of Diplomacy: International society (10/1)
(* Midterm take-home exam questions will be handed out)
Essential:
G. R. Berridge, “Grotius,” in Berridge et al., Diplomatic Theory, pp.50–70;
Hedley Bull, “Diplomacy and International Order,”in Hedley Bull, The Anarchical
Society: A Study of Order in World Politics, 2002, pp.156-177.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy and Diplomats in the Rational Tradition,” in Diplomatic Theory
of International Relations, pp.39 – 52.
Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, The Expansion of International Society, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1984, Introduction, pp.1–9.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy in International Relations Theory,” ch. 3 in DGW, esp. pp. 5657.
Recommended:
Iver B. Neumann, “The English School on Diplomacy,” Discussion Papers in
Diplomacy, No. 79, (The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations
‘Clingendael’, 2002).
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Adam Watson, “Diplomatic Need of New and Less Developed States,” in Adam Watson,
Diplomacy: The Dialogue Between States. Rev. ed., London: Routledge, 2004,
pp.158–75 (USC on-line library).
Based on student interest, selected chapters in Sharp and Wiseman, DCIIS. e.g.,
 Geoffrey Wiseman, “Stockholm, Hanoi, New York”, pp/ 246-264 [BB]
 Halvard Leira and Iver Neumann, “The Oslo Diplomatic Corps”, pp. 83-102 [BB]
Other include (see book at Leavey Reserve):
Alan Henrikson, The Washington Diplomatic Corps,” pp. 41– 74.
Kishan S. Rana, “Representing India in the Diplomatic Corps,” pp.125–141.
M. Humayun Kabir, “The Kathmandu Diplomatic Corps,” pp. 145– 167.
Joyce E. Leader, “Genocide in Rwanda and the Kigali Diplomatic Corps,” pp. 168–196.
7. Solidarist Views of Diplomacy: World society (10/8)
(** Midterm due, in hard copy, 2 p.m. on Tues. October 7 in GW mailbox in VKC
330).
Essential:
David Armstrong, “Revolutionary Diplomacy,” in Diplomacy, vol. 2, pp.381–94.
Costas M. Constantinou, “Between Statecraft and Humanism: Diplomacy and Its Forms
of Knowledge,” International Studies Review, 15, pp. 141–162.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy in International Relations Theory and Other Disciplinary
Perspectives,” ch. 3 in DGW, esp. pp. 63-67 (Cf. Geoffrey Allen Pigman, ch. 4 in
DGW).
Recommended:
Paul Sharp, “Revolutionary States, Outlaw Regimes and the Techniques of Public
Diplomacy,” in Jan Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in
International Relations, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 106–
123.
Paul Sharp, “Diplomacy and Diplomats in the Radical Tradition,” in Diplomatic Theory
of International Relations, pp. 17–38.
James Der Derian, “Mediating Estrangement: A Theory for Diplomacy,” Review of
International Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2., 1987, pp. 91-110.
Iver B. Neumann, “To Be a Diplomat,” International Studies Perspectives,” Vol. 6, No. 1
(February 2005), pp. 72-93.
8. American Theories of Diplomacy (10/15)
Essential:
Geoffrey Wiseman “Distinctive Characteristics of American Diplomacy,” The Hague
Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 6, nos. 3-4, December 2012, pp. 235–259
[Blackboard].
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Joseph Nye, Soft Power, New York: Public Affairs, 2004, pp.1–32, 127-47.
Alan Henrikson, United States Contemporary Diplomacy: Implementing a Foreign Policy
of ‘Engagement’”, ch. 15, in DGW, pp. 265-281.
Geoffrey Wiseman, “Engaging the Enemy: An Essential Norm for Sustainable U.S.
Diplomacy,” in Costas Constantinou and James Der Derian (eds) Sustainable
Diplomacies, Basingstoke (UK): Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, pp. 213-234.
Recommended:
J. Anthony Holmes, “Where are the Civilians? How to Rebuild the U.S. Foreign
Service,” Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb. 2009, pp. 148-60 [Blackboard].
Paul Sharp, “Obama, Clinton and the Diplomacy of Change, The Hague Journal of
Diplomacy, vol. 6, nos. 3-4, December 2012, pp. 393-411 (USC Online libraries).
Memoirs by US diplomats:
Jeffrey Davidow, US ambassador to Mexico (1998-2002), author of The US and Mexico:
The Bear and the Porcupine (2004).
James Lilley, US ambassador to South Korea and China, author of China Hand: Nine
Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia (2004).
Thomas Pickering, US ambassador to the UN during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War,
author of Iraq: The Day After (2003).
Joseph Wilson, US career diplomat and ambassador to Gabon. Author of The Politics of
Truth: Inside the Lies the Led to War and Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity
(2004).
9. Small and Middle Power Theories of Diplomacy (10/22)
South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Norway; UN Security Council
Essential:
Andrew F. Cooper (ed.), Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers after the Cold War, London:
Macmillan, 1997, ch. 1 “Niche Diplomacy: A Conceptual Overview,” pp. 1–24.
Kim Richard Nossal and Richard Stubbs, “Mahathir’s Malaysia: An Emerging Middle
Power?”, in Cooper, Niche Diplomacy, pp. 147–163.
Alan Chong, “Singapore and the Soft Power Experience,” in Andrew F. Cooper and
Timothy M. Shaw (eds), The Diplomacies of Small States: Between Vulnerability
and Resilience, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp. 65–80.
Baldur Thorhallsson, “Small States in the UN Security Council: Means of Influence,”
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 7, no. 2 (2012), pp. 135–160 (USC
libraries Online).
Recommended:
Lyn Boyd Judson, “Strategic Moral Diplomacy: Mandela, Qaddafi, and the Lockerbie
Negotiations,” Foreign Policy Analysis, Vol.1 No.1 (March 2005), pp.73–97.
Alan Henrikson, “Niche Diplomacy in the World Public Arena: the Global ‘Corners of
Canada and Norway,” in Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy, pp. 67–87.
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Peter Vale, “Revealing All? The Troubled Times of South Africa’s Diplomacy,” The
Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2 (2012), pp. 337-349.
PART III: DEBATING THE FUTURE OF DIPLOMACY
10 Decline, Reform, New Technology (10/29)
Essential:
Jan Melissen, “Introduction,” in Jan Melissen (ed.), Innovation in Diplomatic Practice,
London: Macmillan, 1999, pp. xiv-xxiii.
Brian Urquhart, “Are Diplomats Necessary?”, The New York Review of Books, vol. 54,
no. 15 (October 11, 2007).
Jovan Kurbalija, “The Impact of the Internet and ICT on Contemporary Diplomacy,” ch,
8 in DGW, pp. 141-159.
Alec Ross, “Digital Diplomacy and US Foreign Policy,” in The Hague Journal of
Diplomacy, vol. 6, Nos 3–4 (2011), pp. 451–455 (USC libraries Online).
Mark Rolfe, “Rhetorical traditions of Public Diplomacy and the Internet,” The Hague
Journal of Diplomacy, 9 (2014), pp. 76–101 (USC libraries Online).
Recommended:
Brian Hocking, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Diplomatic System,” in
DGW, pp. 128-130.
Shaun Riordan, “Reforming Foreign Services for the Twenty-First Century,” in The
Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2 (2007), pp. 161–173 (USC libraries Online).
Robert Wolfe, “Still Lying Abroad? On the Institution of the Resident Ambassador,”
Diplomacy and Statecraft, Vol.9, No.2 (July 1998), pp.23-54.
Brian Hocking, “Catalytic Diplomacy: Beyond ‘Newness’ and ‘Decline’,” in Melissen,
Innovation in Diplomatic Practice, pp.21–42.
11. Emerging Regional Diplomacies: Europe, Asia/China, Africa, South America,
Other Regions (11/5)
Essential:
Jozef Batora and Alan Hardacre, “Regional institutional Diplomacies: Europe, Asia,
Africa, South America and Other Regions,” in ch. 17 in DGW, pp. 300-318.
Ye Zicheng and Zhang Qingmin, “China’s Contemporary Diplomacy,” ch. 16 in DGW,
pp. 282-299.
Recommended:
Pauline Kerr, Stuart Harris, and Qin Yaqing (eds), China’s ‘New’ Diplomacy: Tactical or
Fundamental Change?, Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2008. Selected
chapter(s).
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Brian Hocking and Jozef Batora (eds), “Diplomacy and the European Union,” Special
Issue, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 4, no. 2 (2009). Entire issue is
available through USC libraries Online.
Kishan S. Rana, Asian Diplomacy: The Foreign Ministries of China, India, Japan,
Singapore and Thailand, Malta: DiploFoundation.
12.Transforming and Enlarging Diplomacy (11/12)
Essential:
Richard Langhorne, “The Diplomacy of Non-State Actors”, Diplomacy and Statecraft,
vol.16, no.2, pp.331-339.
Pauline Kerr and Brendan Taylor, “Track-Two Diplomacy in East Asia,” in DGW, pp.
226-243.
Halvard Leira and Iver B. Neumann, “Consular Diplomacy” ch. 9 in DGW, pp. 160-174.
Daniel Hernandez Joseph, “Mexico’s Concentration on Consular Services in the United
States,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 7, no. 2 (2012), pp. 227–236 (USC
libraries Online).
Geoffrey Wiseman, “Polylateralism: Diplomacy’s Third Dimension,” Public Diplomacy
Magazine, Issue 4 (Summer 2010), 24–39.
Recommended:
Bertrand Badie, “Transnationalizing Diplomacy and Global Governance,” ch. 5 in DGW,
pp. 85–102.
Andrew F. Cooper and Brian Hocking, “Governments, Non-governmental Organizations
and the Re-calibration of Diplomacy,” Global Society Vol. 14, No. 3, 2000, pp.
361-367.
Richard Langhorne, “The Diplomacy of Non-State Actors”, Diplomacy and Statecraft,
vol. 16, no. 2, 2005, pp. 331-339 [BB].
13. The New Public Diplomacy (11/19)
Essential:
Mark Leonard, “Diplomacy by Other Means,” Foreign Policy, Vol. 132, 2002, pp. 48-56.
Jan Melissen, “Public Diplomacy,” ch. 11 in DGW, pp. 192-208.
G. R. Berridge, “Public Diplomacy,” ch. 11 in Berridge, Diplomacy: Theory and
Practice, pp. 179-191 [BB].
Bruce Gregory, The Paradox of US Public Diplomacy: Its Rise and “Demise”, IPDGC
Special Report #1, The George Washington University: Washington DC (2014):
1-26. Available at http://www.gwu.edu/~ipdgc/assets/docs/IPDGCSpecialReport1-BGregory.pdf
Recommended:
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Daryl Copeland, “Public Diplomacy and Foreign Service,” in Guerilla Diplomacy:
Rethinking International Relations, Boulder, CO, Lynne Rienner, 2009, pp. 161–
84.
Bruce Gregory, “Public Diplomacy: Sunrise of an Academic Field,” in Geoffrey Cowan
and Nicholas J. Cull, Public Diplomacy in a Changing World, The Annals (2008),
pp. 274–90 [BB].
Brian Hocking, “Rethinking the “New” Public Diplomacy”, in Melissen (ed.), The New
Public Diplomacy, ch. 2, pp. 28–43.
November W 26- Sat 29: Thanksgiving holiday
14. Diplomacy’s Theoretical and Practical Future/Review and Presentations of
Draft Final Papers (12/3)
Essential:
Geoffrey Wiseman and Pauline Kerr, “Conclusion,” in DGW, pp. 336–343.
Alan K. Henrikson, “Diplomacy’s Possible Futures,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy,
vol. 1 no. 1 (2006), pp. 3–27 (USC libraries Online).
Recommended:
Brian Hocking et al., “Integrative Diplomacy for the 21st Century,” China International
Strategy Review, (2013), pp. 53-88 [BB]
Stuart Murray, “Consolidating the Gains Made in Diplomacy Studies: A Taxonomy,”
International Studies Perspectives vol. 9, no. 1 (2008), 22–39.
Kishan Rana, The 21st century ambassador: plenipotentiary to chief executive,
DiploFoundation, 2005; ch. 8 “The Future,” pp. 190–204.
Thomas Risse, “’Let’s Argue!’: Communicative Action in World Politics,” International
Organization, Vol. 54, No.1 (Winter 2000), pp.1–39.
Lars G. Løse, “Communicative Action and the World of Diplomacy,” in Karin M. Fierke
and Knud Erik Joergensen (eds.), Constructing International Relations: The Next
Generation, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001, pp.179–201.
Geoffrey Allen Pigman, “Debates about Contemporary and Future Diplomacy,” ch. 4 in
DGW, pp. 68–84.
Final paper due: Friday December 12 at 2 p.m.
Aug 27, 2014, Final