Here we go again! It is our great pleasure to introduce to you two of our wonderful authors: @helmer and @NinaLamal both of them very well know to the #emdiplomacy-community .They are both part of the print #diplomacy team at the Dutch Academy of Sciences, with Helmers being the project leader. Here they are looking for the role of the public and especially the importance of print for #earlymodern diplomacy. Both published extensively on #emdiplomacy and on Dutch political culture, e.g., Helmers's article on #English public diplomacy in the #Dutch Republic.
So who would be better to write the #emdiplomacy#handbook article on the development of #Dutch#diplomacy than these two!?! This is a particular challenge, not only because there’s an astonishing lack of overviews on Dutch #earlymodern diplomacy, but also because Dutch diplomacy held a peculiar position in #earlymodern international relations. Being a young republic its rise within the international system seems astounding, while at the same time giving the Dutch a special status, being a republic among all these monarchies. The federal nature of the Dutch republic was not only irritating to foreign monarchical powers, but also complicated the organisation of #emdiplomacy, a topic that is far too often ignored by modern research, though @helmer and @NinaLamal stress its importance for Dutch #emdiplomacy. (3/5)
One central problem that resulted from the federal nature of the #Dutch republic was secrecy: How could one keep a secret with so many actors involved? This was almost a mission impossible, although one tried several measures such as an oath of secrecy to deal with the problem.
When dealing with Dutch #emdiplomacy you inevitably come across two other big issues: the Protestant character of Dutch #earlymodern#diplomacy and the importance of trade and commercial interests. For @helmers_h and @NinaLamal these are not contradictory interests. However, they argue that “commerce, geopolitics, and protestantism were perfectly reconcilable”. (4/5)
Finally, @helmer and @NinaLamal argue that it is important to analyse #Dutch#emdiplomacy not only in its European context, but in its global dimension. The East India Company (#VOC) and its growing importance in #Asia played an important role in the rise of the Dutch republic. Unfortunately, both dimesions – the European and the global one – are far too often dealt seperately with by modern research. A problem that is generally true for research on #earlymodern diplomacy.
This leads to an overarching problem of how to competently connect national, European and global perspectives on diplomacy without blurring the focus. A question to be discussed elsewhere. (5/5)
Add comment