Diplomatic Practices in Times of Crises: Relational Diplomacy and a Changing Global Order

As global order is transforming, security has broken down in various world regions and violence is increasing in the international system. According to SIPRI data, 2025 constituted one of the most conflictual years since the end of World War II. At the same time, diplomacy to respond to this breakdown of security also appears in crisis or transition. More precisely, new tendencies are gathering speed whereby, firstly, powerful actors impose rather than mediate solutions; secondly, multilateral actors traditionally strong in diplomacy such as the UN or the EU, appear weak(ened); thirdly, small states (such as Qatar) become important in new ways. And, fourthly, there is a growth of plural, bottom-up, everyday diplomacy which responds to the breakdown of security in the international system in a relational way (for example solidarity movements).
This panel invites papers which study these dynamics across world regions with a specific focus on areas of conflict. It is interested in multiple theoretical perspectives, including the Global IR literature on multiplexity, the decolonial literature and the pluriverse, the (constructivist) practice literature, the English school literature on world society, as well as the more traditional literature on diplomacy and diplomatic history.