Yellow banner with pen and letters

Author: George Vella

Persuasion: importance of trust, relevance for small states, and limitations of computers

2013

Dr George Vella, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, argues that persuasion is central not only to diplomacy but also to society in general. He highlights three aspects of persuasion. First is the high importance of trust for persuasion: trust creates the context in which persuasion can be used.
persuasion.png

Persuasion is the direct opposite of coercion. Persuasion is a positive process as against the negative connotation associated with coercion. Persuasion is an induced mental state of agreement, whereas coercion is forced acceptance or compliance.  To persuade means to convince, whereas coercion implies imposition.  Persuasion is winning over by argument; coercion is subjecting by compulsion.

Persuasion is the result of a process whereby one succeeds in convincing another that one’s opinion or one’s assessment of a particular situation is credible and acceptable, being based on knowledge of related circumstances, objective unprejudiced assessment, good judgment, and clear decisions.

One need not persuade one’s counterpart that the proposed option is the ideal … it is enough to convince that the proposed line of action or proposed decision is the best under prevailing circumstances, and valid for the foreseeable future.

Persuasion is made easier if it is backed by integrity, respect, experience, and trust. Persuasion implies influencing one’s cognitive process to accept to agree to a proposal.

The talents and skills of a good persuader

The experience and the integrity of the proponent, influence in no small way the weight that will be given to the proposal by the intended recipient of the proposal. Experience and integrity elicit respect and esteem. These are the essential ingredients necessary to generate the most important factor in any discussion between parties wanting to come to some sort of agreement between them…trust.

Trust is reliability. Trust underpins confidence. Trust gives credence. Trust makes for assurance. These are the basic ‘desiderata’ for engaging in fruitful negotiations between parties holding divergent views, where each side tries to win over to its side the widest support to its proposal or to its way of seeing things, by persuasion.

This is the essence of diplomacy which is the art of negotiation, be it between parties having divergent views on any subject, or as the term is more commonly used in negotiations of a political nature between states, be it on a bilateral or a multilateral basis.

Diplomacy is an art. Like any artist, the diplomat has to have certain inborn qualities, which like the consummate artist, they need to refine by training, experience, and self criticism.

The diplomat has their ‘tools’ which they must use with dexterity, tact, skillful manoeuvring, a sharp eye on detail, and most importantly with judicious timing.

Diplomacy, being the art of communication, necessitates a thorough knowledge of human psychology, body language, and a wide knowledge of the process of human thinking and the factors, intrinsic and extrinsic, that influence it.

The difference between persuasion in normal relations and in high diplomacy

As long as political decisions and policy lines continue to be determined by politicians and not by computers; by human brains and not by computer-printed circuits from inanimate databases, the art of persuasion will continue to play a most important part in the process of decision-making, be it in normal relations between politicians themselves, or politicians and the general public, as well as between diplomats, at whatever level they are practicing their diplomatic skills.

The art and science of politics itself is based on winning popular support by politicians from the man in the street, on proposals, and policy lines, according to the political beliefs and political orientation of the politician involved.

It is the basis of the democratic game wherein vying politicians, presenting different political options before the people, using all their skills to persuade their listeners that their political message engenders more trust and better prospects for prosperity and better governance.

In plain simple language the gist of the game is that of trying to persuade the largest number of voters to give their trust to the person who manages to persuade them of being the one with the best political options for their country’s future.

This applies also for contenders to any position of influence, the choice of whom depends on the free choice of members of the organization involved.  Winning support starts by persuading those who will be giving you their trust to lead and decide on their behalf.

Persuasion is at the basis of all political dealings, all political decisions, and all political diplomatic exchanges, irrespective at which level these are conducted.

The importance of persuasion for small states

With some notable exceptions, small states do not have the economic, financial, or military clout of countries that are much bigger; unless of course, they sit on huge oil or mineral deposits, and unless they have developed over the years into some strong influential financial centre.

As the saying goes they ‘cannot throw their weight around’. They cannot achieve their aims, or impose their beliefs, let alone arrive at agreements by using the ’tools’ countries that are much bigger and more influential can use. They do not have the critical mass to leave a dent on another country’s economy if they decide to impose sanctions, or trade restrictions. They will not hurt anybody by imposing travel restrictions, or trade embargoes.

Small countries can only obtain respect and achieve their aims if, for example, they manage to persuade the counterpart with whom they are negotiating, of the importance of their country, be it geostrategic, political, or that it just happens to fit in the overall political plans of the country being persuaded. One has to convince the other side by proving that the proposal on the table is in the best interests of both sides.

To be considered as a serious negotiating partner, a small country boosts its image by being stable, credible, reliable and consistent. Any other country negotiating with a small state will have to be first and foremost persuaded of these attributes.

It follows that diplomats from small states will have to make full use of all their negotiating skills to convince and persuade their counterparts from other countries and international organizations of their credibility, credit worthiness, and above all of their country’s consistent track record in the fulfillment and execution of commitments and responsibilities undertaken in previous agreements.

Man versus computer

                                                                                                                 
The world’s political, economic, financial and social scenario is changing fast. Modern methods of communication have changed drastically the frequency and the tempo with which diplomatic exchanges used to take place.  The availability of vast amounts of information at the touch of a button, combined with unlimited data storage, and the ease of data retrieval, have changed the way diplomats have worked for centuries.

In spite of all these developments, the human factor remains central and crucial to diplomatic exchanges, and negotiations between diplomats.  Computers can download gigabytes of information, and print truckloads of note verbales and files upon files of diplomatic exchanges.

It is however only the suave, experienced, well-prepared diplomat, who, on a person-to-person level, can convey confidence, elicit trust, and persuade their counterpart. The human touch, whatever the developments in the computer world, will remain.

No computer can convey the message diplomats transfer to their counterparts through a warm handshake, or on establishing eye-to-eye contact, on reaching an agreement or clinching a deal.
On this last statement, wise counsel prompts me to be diplomatic and hasten to add: ‘at least for the time being!’

icon for right PDF

You may also be interested in

Caribbean Diplomacy: Research on Diplomacy of Small States

With little recourse to traditional economic and political power in their international relations, diplomacy for Caribbean states is a key mechanism to achieve the realisation of the region’s overall development agenda. The Caribbean is no stranger to diplomatic challenges.

umcrest.png

In search of the most sustainable and coherent diplomatic approaches to addressing the fundamental challenges Small States (including Small Island States or SIDS) perennially face in an uncertain world of hegemonic giants

Small states, in every sphere of natural and human activity, are negatively and disproportionately impacted by crises, when compared to their hegemonic, larger and stronger counterparts.

umcrest.png

The Role of Small States in the Multilateral Framework

The current world geopolitical configuration shows how after the end of a bipolar world set by the top superpowers (United States and the Ex Soviet Republic) along with other major players (such as Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan and China, the P5 United Nations Security Council members + 1 with the full capacity of veto power in all world top decisions and procedures) set up a new world reconfiguration that has emerged since the end of the twenty century and mainly in the beginning of this 21th century standing driven from some centers of power and in parasailed with the political and e...

11400973_506972489450812_7669339658582840522_n.jpg

Small Economies in the Face of Globalisation

Commonwealth-Secretariat-World-Bank-Joint-Task-Force-on-Small-States.png

Small States: Meeting Challenges in the Global Economy

ucla.png

Small island states in the face of climatic change: The end of the line in international environmental responsibility

coverimage.jpg

Singapore’s Diplomacy: Vulnerability into Strength

Singapore is a practitioner of focused, innovative diplomacy, constantly in search of the political space for itself that would overcome its sense of vulnerability resulting from its geopolitical location.

persuasion.png

Persuading and resisting persuasion

Dr Alex Sceberras Trigona stresses that not only persuasion but also resisting persuasion is highly important for small states, which tend to be seen as the ‘diplomatic prey’ of great powers. He analyses three examples of successful persuasion from Maltese diplomatic history. First were the negotiations on Maltese neutrality, which required a lot of persuasion of two major Cold War powers and numerous regional players in the Mediterranean.

21.jpg

The National Security of Small States in a Changing World

816F6bCkfeL.jpg

Alliances and Small Powers

41rh6OJ1p1L._SX325_BO1204203200_.jpg

Climate Change and Small Island States: Power, Knowledge and the South Pacific

fao_logo.jpg

Special Ministerial Event on Food Security and Sustainble Development in Small Island Developing States

Richard-L.-Bernal.jpg

Small Developing Economies in the World Trade Organization

book-asian.jpg

Asian Diplomacy: The Foreign Ministries of China, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand

Based on eight years of research and interviews with over 160 professional diplomats and others, this book offers a range of information on the structures, operation and the working style of the foreign ministries of five key countries in Asia: China, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. The rise of Asia adds salience to this book, since it has become more important than ever before to understand the dynamics of the foreign policy process in these countries.

umcrest.png

Nation branding and the role of public diplomacy in assisting small island states in developing strong nation brands

The concept of applying branding principles and strategies to nation states has been around for decades. However, in recent years, the concept has occupied prime attention in academia and the business sector.

umcrest.png

Small States at the United Nations

The proliferation of small states in the past few decades has brought small and larger states on the same playing field. Their increase in number triggered a wave of studies, raised concern by 'realists' and some powerful states, and led to an affirmation that at the United Nations, all states are equal, regardless of size.

showCoverImage.jpg

What are the priorities for small states in the international system?

There is no evidence that the vigorous political action needed to implement the recommendations of previous reports on the vulnerability of small states in the Commonwealth will be forthcoming in the near future. In matters of security, economics and particularly the environment, the collective interests of small states do not appear to have been recognized in the international community. Major donors find dealing with small individual demands from multiple small states difficult, but a regional approach simplifies matters and should be the primary area of concern. The Vulnerability Index prov...

On-Behalf-of-My-Delegation.png

On Behalf of My Delegation,…: A Survival Guide for Developing Country Climate Negotiators

The one hundred pages of this book are in fact a useful Survival Guide for those approaching climate change negotiations for the first time. It has been written for developing country delegates, but delegates from other countries can also profit from its reading the same way that a similar survival guide for industrialized country delegates would be useful for those coming from developing countries, because it is necessary to know both sides of the story

Richard-L.-Bernal.jpg

Small developing economies and the multilateral trading system: A Caribbean perspective

Small developing economies are often constrained in participating in the negotiation and regulation of multilateral trading rules due to severe cost and resource limitations. This article argues that, despite the costs and difficulties, small states must remain engaged in the multilateral trading system in order to ensure that their specialised commercial interests are recognised and to protect their rights. Umbrella entities like the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) provide a means of maximising the influence of small states in an international forum such as the World Tra...

Small states and diplomacy: An indispensable though much diversified relation

fao.png

Environment and Natural Resources in Small Island Developing States

small.png

Security for small states

Lilliputians-in-Gullivers-World.png

Lilliputians in Gulliver’s World? Small States in International Relations

A social science that is worthy of its name must study the universe of its cases in its entirety. If the states system remains a key component of world politics, then the study of small states is simply part and parcel of what the discipline of International Relations (IR) is about. In this piece, we want to demonstrate the importance of studying small states in some detail. We start, in this Introduction, with an outline of justifications for small states’ studies and with some historical and conceptual observations on what “smallness” entails. In Section 2 we show how small states...

showCoverImage.jpg

Small states in the global politics of development

Much of the discussion surrounding small states has treated them as a discrete category, with common vulnerabilities and opportunities. However, a productive approach is to look at the global politics of development, and then see where small states fit in. The author looks in turn at the global politics of finance, trade and the environment. He concludes that small states have been largely unsuccessful in asserting their own interests in global politics, and that (to the extent that it is possible to generalize about states which differ greatly) vulnerabilities rather than opportunities are th...

The Vulnerability of the Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean

The Limits of Neorealism

The Limits of Neorealism

persuasion.png

Persuasion: importance of trust, relevance for small states, and limitations of computers

Dr George Vella, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, argues that persuasion is central not only to diplomacy but also to society in general. He highlights three aspects of persuasion. First is the high importance of trust for persuasion: trust creates the context in which persuasion can be used.

download-3.jpg

Is a special treatment of small island developing States possible?

The Diplomacy of Small States

The miscalculation of small nations

9781315240268.jpg

The Diplomacies of New Small States: The case of Slovenia with some comparison(s) from the Baltics

Milan Jazbec is the State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence in Slovenia responsible for his ministry’s co-operation and preparations for integration with NATO.

Small State Diplomacy

4144A49E0ZL._SX313_BO1204203200_.jpg

Small States in the Global Economy

umcrest.png

An assessment of economic and commercial diplomacy in micro-states: A case study of Namibia

Economic diplomacy can become an important tool for foreign policy of the government to promote economic interest of Namibia in relation to trade promotion, attracting investment through channels of diplomacy.

clingendael-2018.png

The Diplomacy of Micro States

umcrest.png

How important is the role of small states security in the maintenance of international peace and security?

The game of International Peace and Security has for a long time been one played only by the great powers, leading to the singling out of small states in its deliberations. These states would create their own rules and be their own referees, whilst the existing small states would conduct themselves as mere spectators. However, following the effects of the end of the two World Wars, the creation of the UN and decolonization, the role of small states in the maintenance of international peace and security has gathered new responsibilities and in consequence it has made them important agents and m...

umcrest.png

Graduating from least developed country to middle income country status: A trap for small island developing states?

SIDS tends to perform particularly well with regards to their socio-economic achievements and development endeavours. As a result, several SIDS graduate from their Least Development Country status to Middle-Income Country status. This graduation implies that SIDS are much better-off economically and can do without the special treatments and benefits in terms of Overseas Development Assistance that they were receiving as an LDC. However, and this is the thrust of the argument in this paper, this is not the case at all. The support was and is crucial to SIDS. After all, it was the catalyst which...

Laurent-Goetschel.jpg

Small States and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU: A Comparative Analysis

csd_logo.gif

Management of Natural and Environmental Disasters in Small Island Developing States

umcrest.png

The changing phases of diplomacy in a Small Island Developing State: A case study of the Kingdom of Tonga

Diplomacy is an integral tool of communication utilised by nations as a means to achieve their intended interest and goals. The foundations and mode of diplomacy practiced by nations differs according to their circumstances. For Small Island Developing States who differ in size, economy, location, resources, the use of diplomacy has become a vital tool for survival.

A Framework of Best Practices for Caribbean Small States to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change

Caribbean Small States are considered vulnerable by virtue of their geographical peculiarities, economic exigencies, delicate ecosystems and rate of social development among other characteristics. Their ability to meet challenges such as climate change is therefore deficient.

cc1.png

Climate change, small island developing states

614zINZs5fL.jpg

Small States in International Relations

unnamed-1.jpg

Small states and NATO: Influence and accommodation

Rodney-Taylor.png

Advancing the interests of small developing countries

'Given the disparity between the participation of developing and developed countries it was clear that more support was needed for the former group to be able to understand the issues and make a meaningful input.' - Rodney Taylor from Barbados

godfrey-baldacchino.webp

Island entrepreneurs: Insights from exceptionally successful knowledge-driven SMEs from 5 European island territories

book-21st.jpg

21st Century Diplomacy: A Practitioner’s Guide

In the 21st century, new kinds of challenges resulting from interdependence among states and globalisation have had a determining impact of the conduct of diplomacy. Diplomacy has become multifaceted, pluri-directional, volatile and intensive, due to the increased complexity in terms of actors, dialogues subjects, modes of communication, and plurality of objectives. This unique text, written by a leading scholar and Foreign Service expert, examines all such factors to provide the definitive guide to diplomacy as it is practiced today. With a multitude of examples from around the world, includi...

post.2015.63.issue-5.cover_.webp

Lilliput under threat: The security problems of small island and enclave developing states

978-3-662-13000-1.jpg

Small States and Alliances

easterly_headshot.jpg

Small States, Small Problems? Income, Growth, and Volatility in Small States

51OfHTuDFgL.jpg

The Power of Small States: Diplomacy in World War II

This Is an inquiry into how the governments of small and militarily weak states can resist the strong pressure of great powers even in crisis periods. The continued existence and, in deed, startling increase in the number of small states may seem paradoxical in the age of superpowers and the drastically altered ratio of military strength between them and the rest of the world. It is well known that the ability to use violence does not alone determine the course of world politics. Some of the other determinants can be observed with exceptional clarity in the diplomacy of the small ...

download-2.gif

Roaring Mice Against the Tide: The South Pacific Islands and Agenda-Building on Global Warming

s-l300.jpg

Globalization and Governance: Essays on the Challenges for Small States

showCoverImage.jpg

Meeting the needs of microstate security

This article examines the pressing security concerns of microstates, particularly against the backdrop of recurring themes of vulnerability in the literature. It reviews those arguments in the early years of decolonization which expressed scepticism about the prospects for independence in such very small dependencies given their lack of defensive capacity and the geopolitical risks which they face in a potentially dangerous external milieu. The article argues that these doubts and concerns have not been realised in the actual experience of microstates particularly in terms of conventional thre...

The security of small nations: Challenges and defences

The 'essentially contested concept' of security is analysed, and some main kinds of ambiguity and dimensions outlined: level, kind of threat and kind of defence. Discourses on security, particularly of small nations, must avoid being trapped into dealing only with one level (national, which in practice normally means state), one kind of threat (military) and one kind of defence (again military). There is no clear relation between kind of alignment and military expenditures, but non-aligned states are overrepresented both among the very high armers and among the very low armers. Increasing gaps...

elcano.png

Small Island Developing States and Climate Change: Effects, Responses and Positions beyond Durban (WP)

pdf__.png

Engineering Influence: The Subtile Power of Small States in the CSCE/OSCE

download-1.jpg

A Future for Small States: Overcoming Vulnerability

The-Art-of-Letting-Others-Have-Your-Way.jpg

Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States: The Art of Letting Others Have Your Way

Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States: The Art of Letting Others Have Your Way