ABSTRACT This analysis explores the criticism about the creation of mandates in the League of Nations, particularly in the Secretariat; there, a number of officials questioned the organisation’s stance on this matter. Their critical views showed the crucial importance of the early debates in shaping the League’s nature and revealed the existence of a core group of eminent Secretariat members whose

ABSTRACT The German government decided to remilitarise the Rhineland on 7 March 1936, which meant violating the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. Existing literature says much about negotiations that started in spring 1936 on the so-called Western pact – sometimes called the ‘new Locarno’. However, these studies do not focus on the western Powers’ policies. The attitude of the Polish government was

ABSTRACT This analysis explores the diplomacy regarding the possibility of sending British troops to the Soviet Union that took place between Soviet and British representatives during autumn and winter 1941. It demonstrates that despite retrospective emphasis on the absurdity of the proposal, both sides seriously considered the possibility of direct military help at the time, it played a far more important

ABSTRACT This analysis evaluates plans for President Dwight Eisenhower’s visit to the Soviet Union in June 1960, prior to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev revoking his invitation at the Paris summit a month before. The plans were at an advanced stage prior to cancellation. The aborted trip is a footnote in the scholarship, but reconstructing the plans allows understanding the trip as part of the wider

ABSTRACT This analysis explores the nature of Anglo-Israeli intelligence relations between 1967 and 1974, focusing in particular on how the legacy of the British mandate in Palestine, the influence of senior British diplomats, as well as wider commercial interests shaped attempts by intelligence officials on both sides to move this relationship beyond the purely functional. Whilst Israel looked to

ABSTRACT Claims about Soviet policy at the end of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war played a key role in discrediting détente in the mid- and late 1970s. This analysis considers the part that Henry Kissinger played in triggering the Soviet actions at the end of the war to which the critics of détente pointed. Contrary to what Kissinger claimed, he essentially reneged on the agreement he had reached

ABSTRACT The Kosovo case remains topical for understanding the practice of state recognition, especially in the context of secessionist claims to independence. The diversity of reactions of third states to Kosovo’s declaration of independence finds basis on the gaps of international law that allow politics to play out in the practice of state-recognition. This analysis takes a closer look at arguments

(2021). Introduction. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, Studies in Diplomacy and Statecraft: Essays in Honour of Erik Goldstein, pp. 219-222.

ABSTRACT Frequently, peace settlements mark moments of systemic change in international politics. The object of this article is to examine how far these three major European peace settlements of the modern period – 1814–15, 1918–20 and 1945-55 – represented the contemporary political and diplomatic responses to the urgent needs that the end of a general war inevitably brings. It argues that, with the

ABSTRACT It is generally recognised that towards the end of the nineteenth century the Anglo-American relationship entered a new phase characterised by friendship-building initiatives. However, as American businesses sought to expand into the British Empire’s markets, that enterprise required trust more than friendship. This article captures an overlooked aspect of Ambassador Bayard’s cultural diplomacy

ABSTRACT Sir Arthur Hirtzel, the long-serving senior official in the India Office was an old – and a much respected – Middle Eastern hand. Few in Whitehall could rival him in his capacity ‘to get into the mind of the man at the other end of the line.’ Surprisingly, perhaps, Hirtzel never visited the region and never set foot in India, with which he was so intimately connected in an official capacity

ABSTRACT Esme Howard, the British diplomat posted to the Paris Peace Conference to handle policy towards North and Northeastern Europe, saw his proposals except for the Polish Corridor largely ignored by David Lloyd George, the prime minister, and his advisors at Downing Street. The two men had decidedly different conceptions of post-war Poland: Howard plumped for a large Poland with adequate territory

ABSTRACT The First World War spurred the United States to acquire – in the words of Woodrow Wilson – ‘incomparably the greatest navy in the world’, and amongst the many problems confronting Britain after 1919 was how to avoid an Anglo-American naval arms race. David Lloyd George was determined not to sleepwalk into another struggle for naval mastery. He rejected the expert opinion of his top naval

ABSTRACT This article explores the preparation made by the British government, primarily the Foreign Office, for the state visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the United States three months before the outbreak of the Second World War. It considers the dynamics of the relationship between the officials in Whitehall, the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Ronald Lindsay, the agenda of the

ABSTRACT Sir Lewis Namier has left a deep, if contested, imprint on studies of eighteenth-century British political history. Namier the student of great power relations, by contrast, has been largely allowed to slide into oblivion. It is a curious fate, for in his day his public profile as a commentator on international affairs was very high. This article attempts to reconstruct Namier as a dfigiplomatic

ABSTRACT The Hague conferences of 1899, 1907 and the one not held in 1915 occupy an uncomfortable place in the history of war, peace, and diplomacy. Siloed in a range of sub-disciplines, historians often evaluate the conferences in terms of their relative ‘success’ or ‘failure’. Where diplomatic historians generally marginalise the political relevance of the conferences in explaining the march to global

ABSTRACT British and Italian representatives signed a series of accords, commonly called the Easter Accords, on 16 April 1938. The various agreements aimed to settle several outstanding issues between the two governments and, on the surface, it appeared that both Powers had committed to observe the status quo in the Mediterranean. Two years later, however, fascist Italy and Britain were at war. This

ABSTRACT For several decades, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 have been the subject of a fierce debate between orthodox and ‘revisionist’ historians. In so doing, however, historians have for the most part neglected to look more closely into questions of a primarily economic and organisational nature in investigating the contributing factors to the American decision-making

ABSTRACT This analysis questions the dominant view of the role played by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies in the early stages of the 1956 Suez Canal crisis. Tasked with the responsibility of discussing a peaceful settlement to the crisis with Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Menzies’ mission to Cairo failed. Previous accounts overwhelming consign the collapse to Menzies’ blind loyalty

ABSTRACT The mid-1960s to the mid-1970s were watershed years during which Japan made crucial decisions about its non-nuclear policies by interacting with the emerging nuclear non-proliferation regime. The decision to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT] generated tense debates amongst elite foreign policy officials, politicians, and the nuclear industry. This analysis explores their relationships

ABSTRACT Libya’s ‘September One Revolution’ that initiated the 42-year-long rule of Muammar al-Qaddafi in 1969 took the United States Embassy in Tripoli completely by surprise. American diplomats had long anticipated a coup d’état; however, no one expected it to be led by a small group of young, unknown army officers. American officials in Libya and the United States argued for months over who was

ABSTRACT What motivates states to provide others with military assistance? Traditional explanations naturally focus on the security interests of the sender state. But could domestic considerations – intra-party politics, for example – also be a factor in some cases? This analysis, which examines the British decision to send a Military Advisory Team [MAT] to the newly federated United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT This commentary asks why Russia has started again to invest in land-based intermediate-range missiles, which can be used both in conventional and nuclear roles. As resorting to the action-reaction scheme cannot explain Russian efforts, the nature of the specific Russian approach towards military issues requires consideration. Russia obviously seeks to achieve major strategic advantages in

(2021). Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 202-217.

(2021). American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 203-205.

(2021). Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliances. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 205-206.

(2021). The Lockhart Plot. Love, Betrayal, Assassination and Counter-Revolution in Lenin’s Russia. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 207-208.

(2021). Reluctant Warriors: Germany, Japan, and Their US Alliance Dilemma. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 208-210.

(2021). A Precarious Equilibrium: Human Rights and Détente in Jimmy Carter’s Soviet Policy. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 212-214.

(2021). Commonwealth History in the Twenty-First Century. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 214-216.

(2021). Documents on Australian Foreign Policy: Australia and the World 1920-1930. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 216-217.

(2020). Public Opinion and Twentieth-Century Diplomacy: A Global Perspective. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 811-812.

(2020). Public Diplomacy at Home: Domestic Dimensions. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 812-814.

(2020). Churchill and Stalin: Comrades-in-Arms during the Second World War. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 814-815.

(2020). The Double Game: The Demise of America’s First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 815-817.

(2020). Diplomacy Shot Down: The U-2 Crisis and Eisenhower’s Aborted Mission to Moscow, 1959–1960. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 817-818.

(2020). The Two Sick Men of Europe? Britain and Italy between Crisis and Renaissance 1976–1983. Diplomacy & Statecraft: Vol. 31, Gendering Peace in Europe, pp. 819-820.

ABSTRACT This introduction tracks how international and diplomatic history have, gradually, been gendered, as well as tracing the evolving interest in the role of women in peace movements. Most articles in this special issues developed from contributions to the ‘Gendering Peace in Europe’ conference held at the University of Sheffield in January, 2017, and here we consider the ways in which the category

ABSTRACT As the twentieth century dawned, fledgling transnational networks of peace activists, including the International Peace Bureau and the Interparliamentary Union, grew in prominence, not least in Europe. Impetus came from the United States, notably via the Lake Mohonk conferences and emergent organisations like the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the World Peace Foundation. Each

ABSTRACT Some pacifist women active during and after the First World War consciously chose a rhetoric of love and shared humanity. Used to counteract the discourse of hate that dominated belligerent nations at this time, it was central to the vision of a feminist peace developed by women’s groups working to oppose the war, such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom [WILPF]. Using

ABSTRACT Political violence was a fact of Irish life in the early twentieth century, exacerbated by the sacrificial and martial cultures that grew out of nationalist and unionist politics. The Irish women’s movement developed in this context, adjusting to the demands made on activists by these particular circumstances, and playing a vital role in all the major political movements of the era. Buoyed

ABSTRACT The history of women’s engagement in the interwar peace movement has focused primarily on feminist pacifists, individuals who participated in both the women’s suffrage movement and the peace movement. Much less attention has been given to the peace activism of voluntary women’s groups that did not self-identify as feminist but which were equally committed to preserving peace. This analysis

ABSTRACT This analysis focuses on the ways in which the interwar Yugoslav women’s movement contributed to national and international political processes of that time, and it divides into two parts. The first deals with the national efforts of the Yugoslav women’s umbrella alliance and its endorsement of the concepts of Yugoslavia and a Yugoslav nation. The second analyses the international activities

ABSTRACT The history of modern British foreign policy largely devolves from an exclusively male perspective. In many respects, this was natural and appropriate because, until the 1940s, only men held senior positions in the Diplomatic Service. During the early twentieth century, attempts to change the “Foreign Office mind” to promote a greater acceptance of the role of women in the conduct and formulation

ABSTRACT This analysis explores the shifting definitions of what constituted a diplomat in post-Second World War Britain. Post-war women’s liberation generated unique dilemmas for Foreign Office recruiters: whilst reluctant to employ women on equal terms with men, they nonetheless fell under pressure to demonstrate that Britain’s self-styled international reputation as a vanquisher of Nazi tyranny

ABSTRACT This analysis addresses the Council of Ambassadors, a much-neglected body that was composed of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary diplomats following the October Revolution of 1917. Centred in Paris, at the heart of the Russian émigré community, the Council of Ambassadors attempted to assert its authority as the rightful representatives of Russia and engaged with foreign governments. It also took

ABSTRACT This analysis explores the history and structure of the archive of the Edwardian Foreign Office. It uses data and quantitative research methodology to address two crucial questions. What survives within the collection? And what can historians and others find using the regular discovery tools such as indexes and catalogues? It concludes by looking at how these processes shape the ways historians

ABSTRACT This analysis argues that two conceptual tools – the idea of international society used by English School theorists and a concept of health derived from Thucydides’ Hippocratic analysis in The History of the Peloponnesian War – provide a powerful explanation for why Great Powers make unreasonable demands on small states and why small states choose to resist them. Two examples – the Melian

Historians reflect the times and the societies in which they live and work; and it is not surprising, then, that at a time when governmental inability to think strategically has become a prominent ...

ABSTRACT Embassy-based small grant schemes [SGS] are a niche development tool with public diplomacy objectives. SGSs create opportunities for local actors to pursue development goals whilst enabling diplomatic staff to practice a kind of street-level diplomacy, engaging segments of society outside traditional diplomatic circles. However, an argument often raised against such programmes are SGS administrative

ABSTRACT This analysis challenges the traditional approach to studying the creation of foreign policy within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO]. Whilst most historical and contemporary research has focused upon the role of the foreign secretary, permanent under-secretary, and senior overseas representatives, this exegesis argues that an overlooked department – the Policy Planning Staff and its

ABSTRACT The analysis examines Sweden’s attitude towards the various ideas of a Baltic – Baltic-Scandinavian – Union in the 1920s whilst paying attention to Lithuania as the most vulnerable Baltic country primarily because of the Polish-Lithuanian conflict over Vilnius. The Swedish attitude towards the Baltic States in the 1920s in general and their union in particular lay grounded largely on the Baltic

ABSTRACT Scholarly analysis of John Diefenbaker’s government between 1957 and 1963 has focused heavily on Diefenbaker’s influence in the conduct of Canadian foreign policy. From the “renegade in power” to the “rogue Tory”, Diefenbaker frequently receives the primary credit or blame for determining Canada’s place in the wider world. This traditional evaluation, however, ignores the broad latitude often

ABSTRACT One of only four men to represent Britain as ambassador in Rome during the interwar period, Sir Percy Loraine’s tenure in the Italian capital lasted just over 400 days and ended with Italy’s entry into the Second World War. This analysis explores three areas of Loraine’s ambassadorship in Rome, showing that he was a reliable, robust, and respected representative suited to dealing with Italian

ABSTRACT This analysis investigates the place of emotion within the United States human rights diplomacy, arguing that a persistent and self-conscious aversion to ‘emotionalism’ shaped American engagement with human rights and humanitarian questions across the 1950s and early 1960s. For an extended period, particularly within the United Nations, an insistent emphasis on the rituals of ‘reason’ was

ABSTRACT Myron Taylor, President Franklin Roosevelt’s personal representative to Pope Pius XII, carried out a difficult and ultimately futile mission during the Second World War: to persuade the Allies to spare Rome and the Vatican from aerial bombardment. Taylor was a Cornell law graduate and prominent industrial leader, enjoying Roosevelt’s confidence and well respected by Vatican officials, including

ABSTRACT The First World War saw the emergence of a ‘politics of oil’/politique de pétrole centred on energy security. On both sides of the Channel, ministers toyed with different ways of achieving national ‘control’ of oil, some étatiste, others laissez-faire. With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Mesopotamian oil awaited allocation. Considering how little it contributed to the war in the Middle

Within scholarship, policy-making, or the blogosphere, Thucydides, the ancient Greek commander turned historian, enjoys an enduring relevance. His writing, subject, and very name convey an air of i...

ABSTRACT In 1967, the United States, the Soviet Union, and dozens of other countries ratified the Outer Space Treaty [OST], a signal diplomatic agreement that outlawed nuclear weapons from space, forbade military installations and manoeuvres from the Moon and other celestial bodies, and declared the cosmos a special zone free for all to use and explore, ‘the province of all mankind’. At the time and

ABSTRACT Illustrating overlooked aspects of a hegemonic conflict surrounding the Korean peninsula amidst changing geopolitical dynamics in the Far East before the Russo-Japanese war, this analysis provides an alternate reading of international history during the age of ‘New Imperialism’. With Korea’s railroad system enmeshed with Russo-Japanese rivalry in Northeast Asia, a technologically inferior