Europeanization of National Foreign Policy: A Case Study on Italy

Abstract

Diplomacy has traditionally been considered as a stately activity privileged to professional diplomats interacting behind closed doors. However, the significant changes in international relations and communication in the 20th century have led to transformations, including in the field of diplomacy, thus resulting in the emergence of New Diplomacy (Cooper, Heine & Thakur 2013). Now diplomacy is not merely about negotiations, but includes various spheres, levels, as well as tools. Another significant change has been the pluralization of actors involved in diplomatic activities. The New Diplomacy has also impacted the ways in which diplomacy is conducted. The rise of new means of communication, namely the internet and the social media, has turned the use of online space into an indispensable part of diplomacy. In the logic of changes in the diplomacy, public diplomacy has undergone significant transformations, now to include a variety of actors, levels, tools and lots of other novel qualities (Melissen, 2005). So far, however, the activities of diasporas as public diplomats, has been overlooked in academic literature. "Both 'diaspora' and 'diplomacy' are concepts that have undergone considerable expansion in recent years, marking a shift away from understanding diaspora as a descriptive category and diplomacy...