Transatlantic Diplomacy in the Age of Populism: A Story of Resilience?

In an era of insurgent populism, diplomacy—one of the key institutions of international politics—seems to be increasingly challenged. The weakening of the professional diplomatic corps in favour of personalism at home, the preference for bilateral interactions at the detriment of multilateralism, and the provocative communication style geared outwards- are all part of the growing anti-diplomatic repertoire of practices systematically used by populist leaders. Yet despite its saliency, we know very little about the impact that populist communication (i.e. the language, deliberation and discursive performance of populist ideas) has on the conduct of diplomacy, whose main function is to ensure the smooth management of International Relations. To what extent, and how does populist communication affect diplomacy? To answer this question, this book chapter focuses on the diplomatic practice of dialogue in the transatlantic context by scrutinizing its evolution during the presidency of Donald Trump. The analysis shows that while the presidential populist rhetoric has indeed changed the substance of transatlantic diplomatic exchanges, it has also triggered a strong response from new diplomatic actors—demonstrating the resilience of this fundamental institution.