Welcome to the Diplomatic Capacity Index
For years, diplomats and students of diplomacy have raised concerns about a crisis in diplomacy. But it is only recently that this issue has found its way into more mainstream conversations about diplomacy as an instrument of national capabilities and the peaceful resolution of international issues. Although there is a growing sense that waning diplomatic resources may reduce the ability of a state to effectively pursue its interests, there is little systematic data available to assess the diplomatic capabilities of states.
FPI is giving fresh attention to a project that we hope will help provide at least one such data set. We have produced a test "Diplomatic Capacity Index," an index that will look comparatively across countries to measure relative commitments by countries to diplomatic capabilities. What we measure and compare will depend upon how we define and operationalize diplomacy.
Below you will find a number of resources related to our project.
The Public Diplomacy of Other Countries: Implications for the United States
Comptroller General, 1979
Comparing Global Influence
Congressional Research Service, 2008
Report
Report Summary
Domestic Determinants of Foreign Policy in the EU and US
Center for Transatlantic Relations
State Department Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting
2017
Other Resources
Rosa Brooks, "An Elegy for American Diplomacy," Chicago Tribune/Washington Post, May 21, 2018.
"Diplomacy in a Time of Scarcity," American Academy of Diplomacy, October 2012.
Daniel S. Hamilton and Teija Tiilikainen, Editors, Domestic Determinants of Foreign Policy in the European Union and the United States, Center for Transatlantic Relations, 2018.
Alex Karagiannis, "Straight Talk on Diplomatic Capacity," The Foreign Service Journal, May 2018.
Daniel Markey, "Developing India's Foreign Policy Software," Asia Policy, No. 8 (July 2009), 73-96.
Uzra Zeya, "Trump is Making American Diplomacy White Again," Politico, September 17, 2018.