Some thoughts on diplomacy

If nations actively pursue their own short-term economic/power interests, they risk getting other nations offside, as the USA has done repeatedly - e.g., Honduras, Europe (re Afghanistan - see also this and this), the Philippines, Iran (which ultimately led, IMO, to the 1979 revolution), Việt Nam, Grenada, other regime change, election interference, these seven nations (see also this), foreign  interventions and invasions, and their (US) hypocrisy.

On the other hand, if nations pursue a world which is a soup of freedom and liberality for all, the “atmosphere” is more likely to be of benefit to all, including one’s own genuine interests - in particular: 

• avoiding the costs, devastation and destruction of human potential of wars and avoidable international disagreements or violence; 
• promoting equitable trade and economic development; 
• promoting the sharing of beneficial ideas; 
• reducing the human cost of stress due to fear; 
• improving the chances of people being able to focus on being better human beings.
  

See also:

• Chatham House - the Importance of Democracy; 
• the United Nations on Democracy; 
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - the Value of Democracy; 
• HRLC - Promoting Human Rights - Good Governance, the Rule of Law and Democracy; 
• Modern ‘democracy’ means protecting freedom as much as it does holding votes; 
• Relief Web - “Freedom, Equality and Justice” – the essential Values for Peace; 
• DevEx - https://www.devex.com/news/3-reasons-why-supporting-peace-is-more-important-than-ever-87508; 
• The Advantages of a Democracy for Citizens; 
• 10 Reasons Why Human Rights Are Important; and
  
• 10 Reasons Why Social Justice Is Important.
  

Thus, being generous and caring is, ultimately, in one’s own interests. 

Finally, as a bit of a side note, although there is no legal compulsion to do so, I consider there are very considerable advantages in copying the words of international treaties into national laws - as was done, for instance, with Australia’s Genocide Convention Act 1949. The benefit is that it makes being part of international treaties more palatable to more citizens - of whom there has been decades of failure to educate, possibly because of elitist unconscious bias on the parts of those in sundry foreign affairs departments? This could be particularly significant as we experience more intellectual ineptness of the conspiracy fantasy type.

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.