DEFENCE DIPLOMACY – AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY OF THE STATE

Abstract

“Defence diplomacy” is a relatively new term, created in response to post-Cold War needs to name new tasks and international functions completed by the armed forces and the leadership of the Ministries of National Defence. However, it should not be understood as a kind of traditional “military plus diplomacy”. The lack of a universally recognised definition of “defence diplomacy” means that states try to adapt its content to the needs of their own security policy. In Poland, the term “defence diplomacy” appears in journalism, but there is no precise reference to it in the documents concerning foreign and security policy. The main goal of defence diplomacy is the co-formation and implementation of the state security policy, and its task - to create stable, long-term international relations in the field of defence. Conceptualisation of the concept is a starting point for understanding its role as one of the most important instruments of foreign policy and the security of contemporary states.

Keywords

• foreign policy
• military diplomacy
• defence diplomacy