Medical diplomacy, the collaboration between countries to improve relations and simultaneously produce health benefits, is a form of soft power that has major benefits for both countries involved and should be seen as a model for international relations. Cuba has adeptly used medical diplomacy since 1960 to garner symbolic capital (prestige, good will, and influence) way beyond what would other...

The rise of global health issues within the world of foreign policy is precipitating great interest in the concept and practice of health diplomacy. Much discussion of this new field, particularly within the global health community, has narrowly focused on how diplomatic negotiations and foreign policy can be used to support global health goals [1,2]. Recent articles claim, for example, that ‘‘...

As the traditional diplomacy is being socialized and networked, public diplomacy becomes the primary tool of diplomacy. In the case of middle powers, public diplomacy weighs more highly because it grants them “ample opportunities to gain influence in world affairs far beyond their limited material capabilities” (Gilboa, 2009). Viewed in the context of the government’s contact with the foreign p...

Existing work on Automated Negotiations commonly assumes the negotiators? utility functions have explicit closed-form expressions, and can be calculated quickly. In many real-world applications however, the calculation of utility can be a complex, time-consuming problem and utility functions cannot always be expressed in terms of simple formulas. The game of Diplomacy forms an ideal test bed fo...

CONTEXT Accelerated globalization has produced obvious changes in diplomatic purposes and practices. Health issues have become increasingly preeminent in the evolving global diplomacy agenda. More leaders in academia and policy are thinking about how to structure and utilize diplomacy in pursuit of global health goals. METHODS In this article, we describe the context, practice, and components...

To date the global health diplomacy agenda has focused primarily on infectious diseases. Policymakers have not dedicated the same level of attention to chronic diseases, despite their rising contribution to the global burden of disease. Negotiation of the Framework convention on tobacco control provides an apt example from global health diplomacy to tackle diet-related chronic diseases. What le...

This article focuses on Midwives4All, an ediplomacy campaign launched by the Swedish MFA in 2015. The campaign aims to spread knowledge about the benefits of midwives and evidence-based midwifery. Within the campaign, the Swedish MFA, and in particular its Communications Department (UD-KOM), combines e-diplomacy and networking and the campaign has become one key activity within the Swedish femi...

The importance of the regional dimension of health diplomacy is only gaining slow and uneven recognition. This is in many ways surprising. As demonstrated in the work of Deacon on the 'globalization of social policy', global social policy has been animated and debated not only at the multilateral level but at the regional level as well. But at least in the diplomatic literature, the importance ...

Human rights diplomacy is considered as a consequence of globalization. While many norms and issues are extensively globalized, nonetheless they can be implemented based on cost and benefit analysis (i.e. maximization of benefits and minimization of costs). States have to take their responsibility of human rights by demonstrating their responsiveness towards their people, international organiza...

Regional organisations can effectively promote regional health diplomacy and governance through engagement with regional social policy. Regional bodies make decisions about health challenges in the region, for example, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the World Health Organisation South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has ...