Introduction to the Special Issue

Image credit: Michael Zimmer via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Moved by the current growing entropy in international politics at all levels, the members of PIN (The Processes of International Negotiation) located at the German Institute of Global and Areas Studies (PIN‐GIGA), on the suggestion of its member, Moty Cristal, have undertaken the following effort to produce ideas or short‐term measures that can be of use before the current System of World Disorder becomes a World Order System again.

Inspired by the changing nature of contemporary conflicts and the challenges they pose to conventional diplomacy, members of the PIN network held their first conference on the topic “New Diplomacy for New Types of Conflict” at GIGA on 2–3 July 2018. The findings provided the foundations for the present special issue. Revised versions of several articles were presented at the 2019 ISA Annual Convention in Toronto, and at the 2019 GLOBSEC Forum in Bratislava.

The editors would like to thank Isabelle Talpain‐Long, the Conflict Management Program Coordinator at SAIS, and Markus Kirchschlager, the PIN coordinator at GIGA, for their continuous support on this project. Our gratitude extends to Alexandra Martin for inviting the PIN network to participate at the GLOBSEC Forum and endorsing the special issue. We are grateful for invaluable guidance, patience, and advice given to us by Eva‐Maria Nag, Lousie Haysey, and their editorial team at Global Policy.