The first legacy that the rulers of the Turkish republic inherited from the Ottoman past is that the state is the main diplomatic and security actor. National security and foreign policy interests have long been defined from the perspective of the state. There is a strong state tradition in Turkey (Heper, 1985). State is the main actor that provides security; state elites define which issues should be considered as security issues; security interests are defined in reference to the survival  and well-being of the state. For a long time, the prevailing understanding was that issues of diplomacy, foreign policy and national security were so much existential and vital that they should not be left to the discretion of the politicians who only think how they can win upcoming elections and remain in power. State elites would, on the other hand, put national interests at the center of their behaviors and approach vitally important issues from the perspective of state. 

Since the rulers of the empire were aware of their military weakness, they first adapted the practices of former civilizations and developed their own way of diplomacy with their political and cultural contributions. For example, they adapted the practices of protocol and dynastic marriages from the Near Eastern civilization, oration as a tool for public speaking from Greece, and the divide and rule tactics from the Roman Empire. In this manner the diplomatic methods they exercised were ranging from the, formation of alliances to dynastic marriages, from exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses, to deception and the use of religion. The correct answer is E.

Canada played a significant role in the gathering of Ottawa Convention on Ban on Land Mines (Anderson 2000). As a medium sized state, Canada has opened itself a space in world politics by initiating such an important process which turned into a binding agreement for more than 140 countries.

The dispute between Argentina and Uruguay on the Uruguay River is mediated by the King of Spain (Goldstein and Pevehouse, 2014: 258). The mediation was an informal one. Yet, the provisions suggested by the mediator were respected by both parties and the decision of the World Court in the Hague followed these provisions and legalized them. In other words, an informal mediation process led to a formal trial process in the World Court and turned into a formal resolution.

Unlike some middle powers and many smallsized powers, global powers have the luxury of helping bring into existence a particular external environment to their liking, as well as making use of the existing power balances within the system to maximize their material power capabilities. Stated somewhat differently, global powers do not only aim at maximizing their power capabilities at the expense of their rivals but also endeavor to midwife a particular external environment that reflects their values and norms.

WWI was a turning point in the rise of summit diplomacy as a result the decrease in trust to professional diplomats due to their inability to prevent such a global war and summit diplomacy became widespread. 

Bilateral diplomacy is conducted between two states, but, initially, these two states have to recognize each other to establish diplomatic missions and carry out diplomatic practice. Recognition means the acceptance of the existence of a state as an independent and sovereign entity in the international arena. Recognition consists two rights of a state: domestically it has to enjoy full sovereignty over its territories, internationally it has to be independent from any other state. Moreover, membership to the 0 (UN) is another criterion for recognition. UN membership is an indicator of global recognition and today almost all states with full sovereignty and independence are members of UN. On the other hand, according to the second article of the Vienna Convention, which was accepted in 1961 and determines the rules, instruments and institutions of diplomacy, diplomatic relations between states have to be based on “mutual consent.” Recognition is a part of “mutual consent”, but recognition and diplomacy do not always go hand-in-hand. More clearly, states may recognize each other, but not carry out diplomatic relations. 

Negotiation can be defined as an attempt to explore and reconcile conflicting positions in order to reach an acceptable outcome. Whatever the nature of the outcome, which may actually favour one party more than another, the purpose of negotiation is the identification of areas of common interest and conflict

League of Nations

This institution was the predecessor of the United Nations which was established by the victorious states of WWI on January 10, 1920. The Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States were the main actors in this system. It was established to protect world peace and solve problems among states. However, due to its internal problems like strategies and policies of its main actors towards the losers of WWI, it became futile less than two decades. With its inability to prevent Italian invasion of Abyssinia, Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Nazi invasion of Austria and Czechoslovakia, the prestige of the institution dramatically decreased and these developments resulted in the eruption of WWII. 

The end of the Cold War era paved the way for strengthening American primacy across the globe, as no other power was in a position to shake up the foundations of this unipolar era for about fifteen years.

The financial crisis that hit western economies in 2008 severely seems to have turned all such western assumptions upside down. The economic crisis in 2008 has not only weakened the specter of the EU to become a global power, both in economic and normative senses, but also made it abundantly clear that the success of the American economic model has been to a significant extent tied to the interdependent economic relations developed with the non-western world, most notably China. The crisis and its aftermath have made it unavoidably clear that the United States is today the most indebted country on earth whereas China the number one creditor country. Besides, majorities across the globe seem to believe that China, the aspiring hegemon, is on the rise whereas the United States, the incumbent hegemon, in terminal decline.

Whereas China deems its phenomenal rise as part of its normalization process, the United States finds in China a strong contender for its global hegemony. While Chinese see their country’s efforts to leave behind the ‘centuries of humiliation’ for good as China’s rightful return to its glorious days, the majority of westerners tend to feel skeptical about the end results of this process. To many Chinese, China had been the cradle of global politics for ages by the time the western European nations eclipsed China in terms of economic output, technological innovations and military capabilities. By the middle of the 19^th century, nearly half of global economic production had originated from China. Therefore, the Chinese believe that their country’s rise in recent decades should not be interpreted as the success story of an ordinary country climbing up the ladder of power. Instead, Chinese share the view that China’s recent successes are manifestations of China’s normalization and returning to world history as a major power (Xiang, 2016, 53-62). 

A third group of scholars combines the insights of these two approaches and claims that singling out one set of variables at the negligence of others will not bring us anywhere close to understanding the complexity of the real world. They suggest that scholars had better adopt a more holistic approach in this process. The so-called neo-classical realist approach in International Relations can for example be interpreted as a scholarly attempt at successfully merging the tangible and intangible motivations of states’ foreign policy behaviors (Lobell, Ripsman and Taliaferro, 2009). Put simply, neoclassical realism posits that making sense of the tangible factors out there is made through the intangible factors that constitute states’ identities and values. 

Pacta sunt servanda is a legal term in Latin, which refers to the continuity of agreements between parties and bindingness of the clauses for both parties regardless of a change of a government or ruler. It is one of the ordering principles of modern international law and diplomacy.

Respublica Christiana was how this collective identity called, although it never turned into an acquired state structure.

Most significant and novel concept of medieval Europe is the term nuncius. A nuncius is the person in charge who is appointed by the ruler as the voice of the principal in another political entity.

Ottoman envoys assigned by the sultan to carry out specific diplomatic activities were evaluating their missions in the reports called Sefaretname (Diplomatic Letters). Diplomatic letters were rich sources for the Ottoman diplomacy and diplomatic missions. The number of these diplomatic letters were about forty and the oldest diplomatic letter belongs to Kara Mehmet Pasha sent to Vienna to ameliorate relations between the empire and Austria after Vasvar Treaty had been signed in 1664. There were two types of diplomatic letters: special ones and general ones. Special diplomatic letters were only about the developments and results of the mission carried out by the envoy. On the other hand, in general diplomatic letters, Ottoman envoys were describing social life, military power, culture, education, industry and development level of the receiving country. 

Another good example of small state mediation is the initiative of Algeria in the settlement of Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979.

First professional ministry was established in France in the early 17th century.

Norway has played mediator role in several disputes and its capital Oslo has been home to several peace talks such as the one between Israel and Palestine

Multi-track diplomacy claims that placing all aspects of unofficial diplomacy under track-two makes it difficult to seize whole scope and context of the field. For this reason, multi-track diplomacy offers a multilayer differentiation with nine tracks instead of two. It also foresees a cooperation with official diplomacy. Therefore, the first track in multitrack diplomacy is the government and its official representatives as the actors of traditional diplomacy. Track two would be the professional, experienced nonofficial attempts of conflict resolution through nongovernmental actors. Track three is defined as business and consequently is carried out by businessmen. This track is based on the assumptions that besides providing financial sources for conflict resolution and peace making efforts, these actors can also build mutual trust and friendship through economic and commercial channels. It is expected that economic ties and interests would forge the parties solve conflicts that could harm these ties and interests. Track four of multi-track diplomacy is carried out by private citizens. Often referred as citizen diplomacy, this track resembles the track-two diplomacy and makes it a sub-field of multi-track diplomacy. It brings together people from different sects of society, in workshops, exchange programs and joint projects in order to break prejudices and develop mutual understanding. Track five includes research, training, and education. Educational institutions from kindergarten to universities, research centres, tanks tanks can be actors of this diplomatic engagement. What is aimed with the mentioned activities is to get to the bottom of the conflict and formulate solutions through researches and study programs, train people who could carry out negotiation and mediation in resolving the conflict and raise awareness through educational institutions for a sustainable peace. Track six of multi-track diplomacy is activism and aims to raise awareness among the public and influence them though protests and gatherings about issues like peace, human rights, environment, social and economic justice. Track seven is religion and is based on directing the influence of religious beliefs, communities and institutions to conflict resolution by highlighting themes like shared values. Track eight is about the funding of all these multitrack diplomacy activities. The actors of this track, or the funders can be individuals, like philanthropists, or groups like communities, foundations and corporations. The last track, track nine is the communication and media. What is aimed with this track is to provide information that would influence the public opinion and bring people together despite the distances. 

Since President Putin came to power in late 1990s, Russia has witnessed a national revival. Having an imperial legacy in the background and acting as one of the two superpowers of the Cold War era, it is quite natural and understandable that Russia wants to leave the troubled years of the 1990s behind and put a serious claim to global power status in the emerging century. Recently, Russia has come under international limelight once again following its annexation of Crimea into its territory, the support that it gives to the separatist groups in the eastern part of Ukraine and its military involvement in Syria on the side of Assad regime. Hardly a day passes without Russia being criticized by western circles of pursuing aggressive, assertive and neo-imperial policies in its near-abroad. The major criticism directed to Russia is that unlike the post-modern powers of the European Union and the liberal power the United States, Russia acts as a typical realpolitik power which deeply believes in the primacy of material power capabilities, the use of brute military force and commanding spheres of influence in global power politics. Russia is believed to have been acting as a nineteenth century power in the twenty-first century.