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Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 24:5 (2025) ► pp.713–740

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Capturing power in diplomatic language use

The case of a closed-door mediatory negotiation and its aftermath during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia

 | University of Hamburg | HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics | Hellenic American University
 | Dalian University of Foreign Languages | HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics | University of Maribor
 | University of Maribor
 | University of Maribor
 | University of Maribor
 | University of Maribor
 | University of Maribor
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.

Published online: 5 December 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24036.hou
Abstract
In this study we capture power dynamics in diplomacy from a pragmatic angle, by examining a closed-door diplomatic mediatory negotiation and its aftermath. We first analyse the transcript of a mediation session between representatives of Slovenia and Croatia and a European Economic Community (EEC) delegation during the breakup of Yugoslavia. While the EEC representatives officially acted as mediators, they had earlier secretly agreed with the Yugoslav side to keep Yugoslavia intact. Second, we examine the transcript of a meeting between Slovenian politicians shortly after the mediation session. Studying these two datasets helps us to capture how power manifests itself in the mediatory negotiation studied, and how it is judged by the powerless afterwards. Focusing on language behaviour in the two datasets provides insight into the presence of power in a diplomatic situation where it should in theory not be played out. We use speech acts to analyse our data.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Review of literature
  • 3.Data and methodology
    • 3.1Historical background
    • 3.2Data
    • 3.3Methodology
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1First dataset
      • 4.1.1Tells and Opines
      • 4.1.2Requests
      • 4.1.3Willings
      • 4.1.4Summary of our analysis of dataset one
    • 4.2Second dataset
      • 4.2.1Opines
      • 4.2.2Tells
      • 4.2.3Justify-s
      • 4.2.4Requests (for information)
      • 4.2.5Summary of our analysis of dataset two
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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