Question

Briefly describe the difference between Diplomacy, Mediation and Inquiry, giving an example of a type of international dispute where you think each would be the appropriate action to take.

Answer 1

Diplomacy is the use of tactical and strategic skills by a party to get the conditions in its favour. Generally during an international dispute, diplomats are hired by each of the parties to talk with each other and get the conditions in their favor, thereby focussing on advantages for each of the parties through middle route. For example In case of political type of international dispute, diplomacy is required because political disputes require the presence of diplomate and government officials to resolve it.

Mediation is the use of third party to pacify the issue between both the parties and come to consensus or find a middle path in order to avoid going to court or get involved in legal proceedings. Third party is the one which is favourable to both the parties and both parties have trust on their party to mediate the issue. Eg. In case of legal type of international dispute, mediation is required because in legal proceedings, it is favourable for both the parties to get to a consensus outside court through mediation.

Inquiry is related to fact finding and extracting information in case of an international dispute. This is generally done by a third party or agencies hired for this specific purpose. Hence in such cases in order to take a decision or resolve a dispute, inquiry is made and all the information is extracted. Both the international parties have to cooperate in inquiry and never hide any information. For example, in case of legal type of international dispute, inquiry is required to be made since facts must be present in order to pursue a case or legal proceedings.