Power (international Relations) - Reconciliation Statecraft

Reconciliation Statecraft

Nayef Al-Rodhan argues that statecraft in the 21st century involves the reconciliation of many interests and demands that a statesman must look beyond purely national interests. The contemporary statesman, he maintains, is constantly torn between competing interests, whether they come from other individuals, states, groups of individuals and groups of states, or more general global interests such as the interests of the international community or the planet as a whole. Reconciliation statecraft identifies the eight interests that are of particular relevance to contemporary statesman ship as individual, group, national, regional, cultural, global, planetary, and moral. Although Al-Rodhan argues that these interests are not necessarily mutually exclusive, he also cautions that they can conflict with each other. In these instances, a state must consider its long-term interest and to consider universal values of justice in order to make the right policy decisions. According to Al-Rodhan, it is only through reconciling all of these interests that future generations will be able to live in peace, security, and prosperity. History has shown that looking at international relations through the prism of only one of the eight levels of interest is not comprehensive. Al-Rodhan argues that no one level can be singled out as the determining or driving force of international relations. Although he maintains that the eight levels of interest do not necessarily compete with each other, he also notes that some conflicts can arise. Reconciliation statecraft holds that the way to ensure peace and stability in the 21st century is for the international community to reconcile all eight interests. Thus, at the core of Al-Rodhan’s principle is the idea that states that cooperate with the international community benefit their own interests as well as those of the broader global community.