ABSTRACT

This innovative new book argues that diplomacy, which emerged out of the French Revolution, has become one of the central Ideological State Apparatuses of the modern democratic nation-state.

The book is divided into four thematic parts. The first presents the central concepts and theoretical perspectives derived from the work of Slavoj Žižek, focusing on his understanding of politics, ideology, and the core of the conceptual apparatus of Lacanian psychoanalysis. There then follow three parts treating diplomacy as archi-politics, ultra-politics, and post-politics, respectively highlighting three eras of the modern history of diplomacy from the French Revolution until today. The first part takes on the question of the creation of the term ‘diplomacy’, which took place during the time of the French Revolution. The second part begins with the effects on diplomacy arising from the horrors of the two World Wars. Finally, the third part covers another major shift in Western diplomacy during the last century, the fall of the Soviet Union, and how this transformation shows itself in the field of Diplomacy Studies. The book argues that diplomacy’s primary task is not to be understood as negotiating peace between warring parties, but rather to reproduce the myth of the state’s unity by repressing its fundamental inconsistencies.

This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy studies, political theory, philosophy, and International Relations.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

On the problems of diplomacy

part I|55 pages

What is in a name?

chapter 1|15 pages

War and diplomacy

chapter 3|20 pages

The naming of diplomacy

part II|39 pages

Diplomacy as Archi-Politics

chapter 4|19 pages

The beginnings of diplomacy

chapter 5|18 pages

Diplomacy and the people

part III|43 pages

Diplomacy as Ultra-Politics

chapter 6|21 pages

Diplomacy is dead – long live diplomacy!

chapter 7|20 pages

Diplomacy and the nuclear threat

part IV|55 pages

Diplomacy as Post-Politics

chapter 8|20 pages

Diplomacy for the next century

chapter 9|20 pages

Diplomacy and terrorism in the digital age

chapter 10|13 pages

Final remarks

Enjoy your diplomacy!