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

Based on over 160 interviews, Asian Diplomacy evaluates the ministries of foreign affairs in five major Asian countries. For each country, Kishan S. Rana first sketches the historical and political background of its diplomatic service. He reviews the structural features of the service; its responsibilities in such key areas as economic and political relations; and its methods for intragovernmental relations, decision making, and crisis management. He then provides a summary assessment of each service and concludes by asking what is special about Asian diplomacy. Asian diplomatic services will become central to international relations as globalization spreads and the influence of Asian countries continues to grow. Rana’s pioneering comparative examination provides a sound basis for understanding this new diplomatic environment.

Kishan S. Rana is a retired Indian diplomat who served as ambassador to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany. Since retiring he has had a variety of consulting and academic roles. He was a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2005.

Preface
Abbreviations

1. Introduction
Global Trends
The Role of Foreign Ministries
The Five Asians
Methods and Objectives
The Criteria

2. Chinese Diplomacy: Reform and Refinement
The Context
Structure
Diplomacy
Methods
Assessment

3. Indian Diplomacy: Opportunity and Renewal
The Context
Structure
Diplomacy
Methods
Assessment

4. Japanese Diplomacy: The West or Asia?
The Context
Structure
Diplomacy
Methods
Assessment

5. Singapore’s Diplomacy: Vulnerability into Strength
The Context
Structure
Diplomacy
Methods
Assessment

6. Thailand’s Diplomacy: Serene Networking
The Context
Structure
Diplomacy
Methods
Assessment

7. The Asian Dimension
The “Asian Values” Debate
Global Values
Cultural Markers and Asia
Asian Diplomatic Systems
A Convergence of Values?

8. Comparing Asian Foreign Ministries
Globalization and Reform
Comparative Data
Structures
Human Resources
Process and Methods
Best Practices

9. Conclusions
The Asian Chessboard
Facing the Future
Calculating Efficiency

Annex
Select Bibliography
Index

“With his strong reputation as a scholar of modern diplomacy, Rana treads new ground and offers us rare insights into the working of five Asian foreign offices. His work will be valued for a long time by anyone interested in the diplomatic culture of Asia’s rising powers.”—C. Raja Mohan, Nanyang Technological University

“The ebb of Western military and industrial predominance behooves diplomacy of a different mettle from the newly emerging and vibrant powerhouses of the Indo-Pacific. This remarkable book provides valuable insights and wisdom for the contemporary practice and understanding of that form of diplomacy in the infinitely more complex world of the 21st century.”—Peter Cozens, Director, Center for Strategic Studies, Wellington, New Zealand