The information need and information seeking behaviour of diplomats in Nigeria
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Transcript of The information need and information seeking behaviour of diplomats in Nigeria
FSC 731 ASSIGNMENT (GROUP 3)
INFORMATION NEEDS AND INFORMATION
SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF DIPLOMATS.
CARRIED OUT BY
ADESUYI ADEKUNLE G. 152537
AJAYI AYOOLA OLUWASEUN 129328
AREO HENRY ABOLADE 152540
ASUBIARO VICTOR TOLUWASE 152877
FADITAN AYODELE OLANIYI 115649
OYAWALE RONKE OLUWAYEMISI 152883
SALAMI WASILAT OLAYINKA 152884
TAIWO YOMI MICHEAL 153386
COURSE LECTURER: DR. (MRS.) ADEYINKA
AFRICA REGIONAL CENTRE FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN
MAY, 2010
ABSTRACT
This study is designed to find out the information need and information seeking behaviour of
diplomats. A pictorial model of the study was done using the Information Seeking of
Professionals model.
INTRODUCTION
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of
groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international
relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-
making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment and human rights. International treaties
are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians. In an
informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or
to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the
phrasing of statement in non-confrontational, or polite manner. The science of diplomatics,
dealing with the study of old documents, also owes its name to the above, but its present
meaning is completely distinct from that of diplomacy.
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or
international organisation. The main function of diplomat revolves around the representation
and protection of the interest and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of
information and friendly relations.
Diplomats in posts collect and report information that could affect national interests, often
with advice about how the home country government should respond. Then, once any policy
response has been decided in the home country's capital, posts bear major responsibility for
implementing it. Diplomats have the job of conveying, in the most persuasive way possible,
the views of the home government to the governments to which they are accredited and, in
doing so, to try to convince those governments to act in ways that suit home country interests.
In this way, diplomats are part of the beginning and the end of each loop in the continuous
process through which foreign policy is made.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF DIPLOMACY.
Diplomacy can be defined as the art and practice of conducting negotiations between
nations, and as skill in handling affairs without causing hostility. Almost 5,000 years ago,
messengers traveled to and from the city-states of Mesopotamia on missions of war and
peace. Clay tablets discovered in Persia, now known as Iran, tell the story of these early
diplomatic missions.
Diplomatic tradition dates back to the cities of ancient Greece, where messengers known as
“heralds” were the first diplomats. People believed the Greek gods protected these heralds,
so no one dared to harm them as they carried messages between warring states. The Greeks
were also the first to grant immunity to diplomatic representatives and their possessions, a
practice still used throughout the world. The Romans later built on the Greek system of
diplomacy. They were the first to apply the idea of the sanctity of contracts to treaties with
foreign nations and that idea is the foundation for international law today.
Diplomat is the oldest form of any of the foreign policy institutions of the state, predating
foreign ministries, foreign ministers and ministerial office by countries.
The diplomats were trio from Washington DC, whose early origins goes back to 1958 and a
quintet named Tiny Tim and the hits. Formed by William Collier, Thomas Price, Lionel
Brown, Orlester Smith and Howard Timothy Wilson; the group had a pair of singles on
Roulette; ‘Wedding Bells’ and ‘Golden moments’.
The ability to practice diplomacy is one of the defining elements of a state. Diplomacy has
been practiced since the first city-state were formed millennia ago in ancient Greece. For
most of human history diplomat were sent only for specific negotiations, and would return
immediately after the mission has been concluded. Diplomats were usually relative of the
ruling or of very high rank to give them legitimacy when they sought to negotiate with the
other state.
The origins of diplomacy lie in the strategic and competitive exchange of impressive gifts ,
which may be traced to the bronze age and recognized as an aspect of Homeric guest-
friendship. Thus diplomacy and trade have inexorably linked from the outset.
Some of the earliest known diplomat record are the Amarna letters written between the
Pharaohs of the eighteen dynasty of Egypt and the Amurru rulers of Caanan during the
fourteen century BC. Following the battle of Kadesh in 1274BC during the 19 th dynasty, the
Pharaoh of Egypt and ruler of Hitttite empire created one of the first known international
peace treaties which survives in stone tablets fragments.
MODERN DIPLOMACY
Early modern diplomacy’s origins are often traced to the state of Northern Italy in the early
Renaissance, with the first embassies being established in the thirteen century. From Italy the
practice was spread to other part of European regions. Milan was the first to send a
representatives to the court of France in 1455.
During that period the rules of modern diplomacy were further developed. The top rank of
representatives was an ambassador. At that time an ambassador was nobleman, the rank of
the noble assigned varying with the prestige of the country he was delegated to. The elements
of modern diplomacy slowly spread to eastern Europe, Russia arriving by early 18 th century
and later to Asia, ancient India, China and finally African states.
In 1914 the countries of Europe were thrust into another violent confrontation. The carnage
of World War I brought the European system of diplomacy into disrepute. U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson was the chief critic of the European diplomatic system and the proponent
of a new type of open diplomacy and collective security. Wilson's primary targets were the
theory and practice of the balance of power, the distinction between great and small powers,
the pursuit of national interests, secret agreements and treaties, and professional diplomats.
CONDUCT OF DIPLOMACY IN NIGERIA
Until the 1960s, there was no ministry of foreign affairs, but an external affairs department,
together with units that performed routine administrative and protocol functions. The history
of the ministry started since the first republic when Alhaji Tafawa Balewa become the prime
minister and established Nigeria’s diplomatic mission abroad, balance representation between
Europe and Africa and accelerate the recruitment of external affairs. Diplomacy in Nigeria
dated back to 1960 when Nigeria got its independence. The government need to send
individuals outside their home country to be a representative of Nigeria. This makes Nigeria
to be involved in world politics and to be relevant in Africa and the world at large. The
Ministry of External Affairs is directly responsible for foreign policy formulation and
implementation. Because matters were usually left in the hands of the minister, diplomats and
his officials, foreign policy positions could change radically from one minister to another,
depending on the minister's orientation.
The early system of foreign ministry in Nigeria was laden with: the training programme
favoured generalists rather than specialists in international relations, there was lack of
effective co-ordination between the foreign affairs and other related ministries, emphasis
were on the job training; which is most inadequate means of preparing people for careers in
diplomacy and policy making and no organisational relationship for inter-ministerial, inter-
departmental, and federal regional co-ordinating programmes and overseas activities.
LITERTURE REVIEW ON DIPLOMACY
Diplomacy has generally been seen by various countries as a way of improving bilateral
relationship between two countries. This has also help countries in forming alliances with
each other to achieve a goal. The goal of foreign policy is to further our national interests,
and diplomacy is the chief instrument of foreign policy. One of the most reliable and
successful tactics of diplomacy is negotiation. And it’s a tactic with a very long history (US
Department of state).
O. B. C. Nwolise in his article stated that, diplomacy in very simple expressions is the
planning and management of relations between nations by the representatives of a country
abroad; it also means at lower level, skill or art of dealing with people or situations.
At higher level diplomacy is conceptualized by Amstutz as: the process by which states and
other international actors pursue official international relations, reconciling, competing and
conflicting interests through negotiations.
Also Hans Morgenthau’s views again is about diplomacy which he perceives as the act of
bringing the different elements of national power to bear with maximum effect upon those
points in international situation which concern the national interest most directly.
Diplomacy is a popular board game in which players assume the roles of the major
protagonists of world war one. It is a game of negotiations; alliances, promises kept and
promise broken. In order to survive a player needs help from others. Knowing whom to trust,
when to trust them, what to promise, and when to promise it is at the heart of the game. In
this, it provides an exciting and unique environment for negotiation, and one which can
generalise to an enormous number of applications (Jaspreet Shaheed).
METHODOLOGY
Indirect method was used for gathering information whereby existing documentation which
constitute secondary source of information were reviewed and analysed.
MODEL USED
The model of information seeking of professionals
The Information Seeking of Professionals model. (Source, Leckie,et al. 1996)
The information seeking of professionals model depicts information needs and information
seeking behaviour arising from tasks that are embedded in work roles. To understand a
professional's information needs, a researcher must examine in detail the work environment
and its inherent tasks. The foremost role of all professionals, according to Leckie et al.
(1996), is the provision of service to their clients. In this service-related role, professionals
may be required to carry out a number of tasks that prompt different information needs.
Variables such as context, complexity, and predictability influence the information need.
Where and when professionals seek information depends on many factors, such as
experience, personal knowledge, time constraints, trustworthiness of source, accessibility,
and cost. Finally, outcomes may be the end point, when the information need has been
satisfied. If the need is not satisfied, there is a feedback loop, indicating that information
seeking may continue until the need has been met. Given the undercover work of diplomats,
the model of information seeking of professionals may be helpful in understanding their
information needs and information seeking behaviour.
This information seeking of professionals model can be used to explain the information
seeking behaviour and need of diplomats. The diplomats should understand the detail of their
work environment so as to pin point the task that should be carried out in the work
environment. To understand the information seeking behaviour and needs of diplomats, a
researcher must examine in detail the work environment and its inherent tasks. The foremost
role of all diplomats, according to the above diagram, is the use of highly classified
information. In this service-related role, diplomats may be required to carry out a number of
tasks that prompt different information needs. Where and when diplomats seek information
depends on many factors, such as experience, personal knowledge, time constraints,
trustworthiness of source, accessibility. Finally, outcomes may be the end point, when this
has been satisfied. If the need is not satisfied, there is a feedback loop, indicating that
information seeking may continue until the need of a diplomat has been met.
EXPECTED OUTCOME OF INFORMATION USE BY DIPLOMATS
The main functions of diplomats revolve round the representation and protection of the
national interests of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and friendly
relations. These diplomats are the image of the country they are representing, they carry out
their duty by obtaining information from both countries (the sending state and the foreign
country) in order to develop stronger bilateral relationship between their home country and
the country where they work as a diplomat. They also get information about their citizens in
different countries for the diplomats to communicate with the home country on the welfare of
these citizens and ways of improving their welfare in these foreign countries.
Diplomats are the oldest form of any of the foreign policy institutions of the state, predating
foreign ministries, foreign ministers and ministerial offices by centuries. Diplomats in post
collect and report information that could affect national interests, often with advice about
how the home country government should respond. Then, once any policy has been decided
in the home country's capital, diplomats bear major responsibility for implementing it.
Diplomats perform the job of conveying, in the most persuasive way possible, the views of
the home government to the governments to which they are delegated and, in doing so, to try
to convince those governments to act in ways that suit home country interests. Diplomats act
as middle man between their home country and the country where they work. This makes
them managers and disseminators of vital information between home country and the foreign
policy. In this way, diplomats are part of the beginning and the end of each loop in the
continuous process through which foreign policy is made.
There is one common denominator for the performance of diplomats, and that is skill in
communication. It is communication of a very special kind, which must be learned, but
without the basic aptitude for communication a diplomat cannot be successful in his manifold
tasks. Contrary to the traditional image of a diplomat as a highly polished individual who is
so circumspect in what he says that it requires a special talent (allegedly found only in other
diplomats) to figure out what he is communicating, it has been found that plain speaking is an
essential ingredient for a diplomat's success. He must of course be tactful and sometimes
artful in the way he communicates, but the message must come through clearly and precisely.
Articulateness in explaining, reporting, defending, and discussing information on his
country's position and other matters is essential. For communication among diplomats is a
two-way direction: one cannot expect to obtain much information unless one is able and
willing to convey information.
A good diplomat must be precise. Experience teaches us that the higher the summit the
flimsier the agreements. A good diplomat also needs a sense of humour. He should always
have some remarks ready to ease tension once negotiations get near a breaking point.
INFORMATION THAT EMANATES FROM DIPLOMATS
Diplomats are professionals to the core. They deal with highly classified information. These
information might be kept at times from common people in the society. The information that
emanates from diplomats are information that has been reviewed and certified by the home
country. These information are then passed to the public for use after the home country has
certified it and also these highly classified information are well kept for future references.
The users of information that emanates from these information need are professionals
and well educated individuals who we can also refer to as innovators in the Rogers theory of
diffusion. These innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are
willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial
lucidity, very social and have closest contact to professional sources and interaction with
other innovators. Diplomats must have unusual stature in order to be successful, they must be
well-read, well-spoken, they must have a thorough knowledge of international affairs, and
they must be persons of cosmopolitan tastes and attitudes.
The best diplomats are people who, in addition to a thorough knowledge of their own country
and the country of their assignment, also have a well-rounded view of the world (Weltbild)
into which what was happening could be fitted. Without such a world picture it is virtually
impossible to reach a firm conclusion about the significance of developments. Nowadays
politics permeates every field of state activity. Any small war anywhere has the potential of
leading to a world conflagration. The growing closeness and interdependence of nations and
the interaction of their public opinions have had the result that the acid of ideological
indoctrination seeps into every cleft of international and internal differences. No wonder that
any cool assessment of the moving forces of our times requires increased knowledge, sound
judgment, and the ability to attach the proper importance to what is happening in a large
variety of fields. A good ambassador must understand the significance also of things that
happen outside the area where he is accredited.
INFORMATION GENERATION WITHIN THE SYSTEM AND DISSEMINATION
TO INTENDED USERS.
The system here is a highly structured information system. They deal with highly classified
information in the system. Diplomats get their information from the country where they work
and send information to their home country. These classified information are used by the
home country to improve their bilateral relationship with the foreign country. The diplomats
also disseminate and pass vital information to his countrymen.
Communication, includes not only collecting and conveying information to and from one's
government; it also means negotiating both in the sense of developing concrete agreements
and in the sense of adjusting differences and lining up support outside of concrete
agreements. While skillful reporting makes the reputation of the ambassador, negotiating is
the real essence of his activity. Negotiating is not just sitting at a table where two or more
countries more or less oppose one another. It begins a long time before a date is set for sitting
down at the table. The process of softening up the other side is almost as important as the
exchange of more or less brilliant arguments at the negotiating table.
The diplomat must convince the other government of the importance of the subject under
negotiation, and of a compromise useful to his own country. But he must also convince his
own government of the limits within which a compromise can be found (or even whether a
compromise is necessary). People at home are often inclined to consider the limits
recommended by an ambassador as due to excessive caution on his part, alienation from his
own country, or plain. The worst thing would be to recommend or predict an outcome of the
negotiations which turns out to be too pessimistic, for instance if the foreign ministry then
sends out someone "stronger" who finds that he could "easily" obtain more than the
ambassador had thought possible. To find the right course between these conflicting
assessments needs skill, experience, courage, and a cool head.
Like anyone who wishes to be successful in a competitive environment, a diplomat must have
good judgment. This goes almost without saying, but good judgment today doesn't mean
what good judgment meant at the time of sailing ships and horse-drawn carriages. When
important things are happening, the ambassador's interpretation of them must be prompt if it
is going to do any good because the press will be doing its own interpreting and so will other
governments. Therefore reporting and analysis must sometimes be not only timely but almost
instantaneous. Good judgment today must come faster than it did a generation ago. And if an
ambassador has in his mind a concept of the interrelationship between events around the
world, he is more likely to be listened to and his judgments will carry greater weight. This
applies both to his written communications to his capital and his oral exchanges with officials
of the country to which he is accredited.
Global companies could learn from diplomacy and how global companies could improve
their effectiveness by setting up a company-wide Business Diplomacy Management function
and by developing and utilizing competent in-house Business Diplomacy Managers.
This will ensure successful management of two simultaneous challenges by global
companies. Global companies must succeed in the business they are in and at the same time
show competence in managing multiple stakeholders at home and abroad. While it is of key
importance to have the right products and services at the right price, global companies might
not be able to deal successfully with obstacles emanating from outside of their direct sphere
of control. Recent examples of such cases are the destruction of production equipment
(sabotage of Shell Oil’s pipelines in Eastern Nigeria by dispossessed and oppressed minority
tribes), or the persistence of non-tariff trade barriers of Japan’s telecom industry (Cable &
Wireless’s difficulties in acquiring International Digital Communications against strong
opposition by Japan’s NTT Company)
Facing such challenges, global companies require business competencies that most global
managers have no background or training in. The competencies needed to deal with foreign
country interests, multiple domestic and foreign pressures groups or international conflict
demand that global companies acquire organizational competency in Business Diplomacy
Management. This competency would help build bridges between their core business and the
complex political environments within which they conduct business. Many needed attributes
of a Business Diplomacy Manager are comparable to the competency profile of a political
diplomat.
Diplomacy is a zero-sum, completely strategic and deterministic game, in which the focus is
negotiation. Developing a Diplomat necessitates integrating the strategic and tactical with an
understanding of very human qualities. A Diplomat needs to be able to negotiate, to explain
and reason, to know if and when to lie, as well as if it is being lied to. As such, it provides a
perfect testbed for artificial intelligence and cognitive science research.
AIMS OF DIPLOMATS
The Diplomat’s aim is to play Diplomacy. To this end, it needs an appreciation of the game
on all of its levels. This task can be split into providing a treatment of: Strategy and Tactics:
The Diplomat should appreciate, or simulate, both the strategy, and tactics required for
Diplomacy. Ultimately, it should recognise
good sets of orders, and bad sets of orders. Negotiation: The Diplomat should be able to
determine which potential exchanges are desirable, and, exploit some mechanism to attain
them. The potential exchanges should be agreements similar to those made by Diplomacy
players. Deceit: The Diplomat should be able to lie when it believes it is beneficial to do so.
Additionally, it should be able to react to other Diplomats lying, using a rationale similar to
that of Diplomacy players. The Diplomat should, to a certain extent, ’learn’ as to which
Diplomat’s lie frequently or not. Note, that modelling some aspects of Diplomacy were not
attempted, for instance, natural language processing, even to the extent used in Diplomacy is
beyond the scope of this project.
COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY & THE COMMERCIAL DIPLOMAT
Commercial diplomacy is diplomacy with a commercial twist-diplomacy designed to
influence foreign government policy that affects global trade and investment. Commercial
diplomacy encompasses the analysis, advocacy and negotiating chain leading to international
agreements on the increasingly diverse set of trade-related issues. The number of people
involved in making and influencing trade policy has grown in tandem with the number of
issues covered by trade negotiations. In today's increasingly interdependent world, trade
negotiations address a broad range of government regulations and actions that affect
international commerce. They cover, for example:
• Tariffs, quotas, and customs procedures.
• Health, safety, and consumer and environmental protection standards.
• Regulation of such service industries as banking, telecommunications and accounting.
• Laws concerning fair competition, bribery, and corruption.
• Industry specific subsidy programs such as agricultural support programs.
The most visible commercial diplomats are those who work in ministries of trade and
industry-those who negotiate international trade and investment agreements and resolve
policy conflicts that impact international commerce. Commercial diplomacy skills are also
required, however, by officials in other government departments and international
organizations that have a stake in trade policy, including those concerned with foreign affairs,
finance, agriculture, industry, labor, health, environmental protection, bank regulation,
telecommunications, air transportation, and the licensing of professionals. Finally,
commercial diplomacy skills are required by professionals and managers in the following
fields of work:
• Corporate government relations departments.
• Overseas subsidiaries that interact with host government officials on a daily basis.
• Industry associations.
• Unions.
• Non-governmental organizations.
Because these individuals have a stake in the outcome of trade policy decisions, they engage
in the domestic and global analyses, and advocacy and coalition-building processes that
precede negotiations on international trade and investment issues. In order to influence this
process, they need to be effective public speakers.
Commercial diplomacy encompasses the entire analysis, advocacy and negotiating chain
leading to international agreements on trade-related issues. Commercial diplomacy is all
about persuasion, for which presentations play a vital role. The commercial diplomat must
make effective use of such communicative advocacy tools such as public testimony,
speeches, interviews, and debates. Learning to create and present public presentations
effectively is critical to the commercial diplomat and her ability to negotiate effectively.
CONCLUSION ON CONDUCT OF DIPLOMACY
Diplomacy is not a game of one-size-fits-all and therefore should be allowed to run in the
best way it suites individual nation and in the interest of the world peace. Diplomats are
rational. By this, it is meant that Diplomats seek to win the game, and are neither altruistic
nor malicious. Diplomats only view winning the game outright as a goal. This contrasts with
other ways of scoring Diplomacy. The assumption that agents only aim for an outright win
simplifies the design and implementation of the Diplomat. Diplomats do not know other
Diplomat’s strategies, and cannot guess them. This is a very important distinction, which very
much changes the complexion of the project. It is made because of the nature of Diplomacy.
There should not be a set of finite strategies from which a Diplomat can choose at any point.
Any negotiation could have occurred at any point in the game. To know probabilities for
another Diplomat’s actions would imply that some bound as the complexity of the
negotiation exists.
REFERENCES
Allan Gyngell and Michael Wesley (2003): Making Austrialian Foreign Policy. Cambridge
University Press. Cambridge. pp 106
Eve Connell & Jill Stoffers (1998): Public Speaking for the Commercial Diplomat. The
International Commercial Diplomacy Project, Inc.
Goffman, Daniel (2004).”Negotiating with the Renaissance State: The Ottoman Empire and
The New Diplomacy.” In The Early Modern Ottomans: Remapping the Empire. Eds.
Virginia Aksan and Daniel Goffman. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. pp 61
Raymond Saner, Lichia Yiu, Mikael Sondergaard (2001). Business Diplomacy
Management:A Core Competency for Global Companies.
Stuart Seldowitz (2004): The Psychology of Diplomatic Conflict Resolution, in H. J.
Langholtz and C. E. Stout, Eds. The Psychology of Diplomacy. Westport press. Praeger.
Historical discontinuity between diplomatic practice of the ancient and medieval worlds and
modern diplomacy has been questioned; see, for instance, Pierre Chaplais, English
Diplomatic Practice in the Middle Ages (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003),
pp. 1 online
Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.com; the free encyclopedia
FSC 731 ASSIGNMENT (GROUP 3)
INFORMATION NEEDS AND INFORMATION SEEKING
BEHAVIOUR OF DIPLOMATS.
CARRIED OUT BY
ADESUYI ADEKUNLE G. 152537
AJAYI AYOOLA OLUWASEUN 129328
AREO HENRY ABOLADE 152540
ASUBIARO VICTOR TOLUWASE 152877
FADITAN AYODELE OLANIYI 115649
OYAWALE RONKE OLUWAYEMISI 152883
SALAMI WASILAT OLAYINKA 152884
TAIWO YOMI MICHEAL 153386
COURSE LECTURER: DR. (MRS.) ADEYINKA
AFRICA REGIONAL CENTRE FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN
MAY, 2010