COVID, Deglobalization and The Decline of Diplomacy: Could Tele‐diplomacy Revitalize Diplomacy’s Capacity to Promote Consensus?
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | Juan‐Luis Manfredi‐Sánchez,Paul Webster Hare |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12961 |
COVID, Deglobalization and The Decline of
Diplomacy: Could Tele-diplomacy Revitalize
Diplomacy’s Capacity to Promote Consensus?
Juan-Luis Manfredi-S
anchez
University of Castilla-La Mancha
Paul Webster Hare
Boston University
Abstract
The pandemic has shown a diplomatic system that is dysfunctional. No institution or groups of states was willing or able to
take the lead in crafting shared actions to shared problems. The crisis coincided with pressures on diplomacy from deglobal-
ization. This has accelerated a fragmentation of norms and increased willingness to use public diplomacy and digital commu-
nication as a point-scoring unidirectional method of self-gratification. The private, painstaking discourse of diplomacy is fading
fast. The United Nations needs to urge its members to reassert the values and give new attention to how diplomacy is con-
ducted, building on existing conventions. Meanwhile, tele-diplomacy offers a medium where diplomacy could reassert itself as
the core activity that will enable collective global issues to be addressed. The paper examines how such tele-diplomacy might
be established.
Deglobalization and the decline of diplomacy
Well before globalization was touted as a win-win and a
shared interest, diplomacy evolved as an activity that
brought mutual benefits. States have never been forced to
engage in it but have done so to be part of a global system
of communication and negotiations. In past crises, where
diplomacy has been impacted collectively, diplomatic actors
reconsidered their options. The later diplomacy comes back
to the scene, the longer the delay in reconstruction as
COVID-19 has confirmed again. However, current deglobal-
ization has harmed institutions, negotiations capacities and
political leadership. Diplomacy has assumed a deglobalized
mindset.
In the past –post 1945, post 2008 financial, crisis –diplo-
macy had a convener, at least one country interested in glo-
bal perspectives. The creation of the United Nations
involved close cooperation and compromises between the
leading powers post-Second World War. That episode
showed an application of diplomatic commitment and pro-
cedures to tackle a global issue. Even the Ebola outbreak in
2014 stimulated the creation of a new group –the Global
Preparedness Monitoring Group.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has lacked diplomatic direc-
tion. As Antonio Guterres said, ‘The world was not able to
come together to face COVID-19 in an articulated, coordi-
nated way [...] Each country went with its own policy, differ-
ent countries with different perspectives, different strategies,
and this has allowed the virus to spread’(BBC News, 2020).
The World Health Organization was not able to lead the glo-
bal response. Pooling expertise in health to avoid sover-
eignty and nationalist tendencies has been seriously
undermined in the pandemic. The United States targeted
the WHO in crafting its own public relations explanations for
the consequences of the pandemic, even though many
American scientists work for the very organization that was
alleged to be damaging US security. One of the great
achievements of United Nations agencies is the production
of respected, evidenced based statistics. These are not
always accurate but more reliable than those issued by indi-
vidual states who have an obvious motive in manipulation.
That service to diplomacy of the United Nations and its spe-
cialized agencies is now under threat. Yet in 2020, the UN’s
own Security Council was largely invisible in the most global
diplomatic crisis since its creation. At the European level, we
know now that the EU response against COVID was uncoor-
dinated and based on national priorities. Neither the Euro-
pean Commission nor the European Central Bank were able
to lead in a common path against the virus. It seems that
coordination was a consequence, but not an engine of Euro-
pean political construction.
Beyond the economic sphere deglobalization means a
fragmentation of norms, behavior, and increasingly zones of
different technologies promoted by nationalist ambitions.
Indeed, deglobalization leaders and governments’narrative
will consider WHO expertise as a problem and not a
©2021 The Authors. Global Policy published by Durham University and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Global Policy (2021) 12:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12961
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, whichpermits use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Global Policy Volume 12 . Issue 4 . September 2021
574
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