Negotiated Health Diplomacy: A Case Study of the EU and Central Asia

Abstract

Summary In the soft-power context, health is increasingly seen as an area that generates particular diplomatic benefits, because it is ostensibly non-political and can bring both immediate and long-term advantages to the donor and the recipient country equally. The endeavours of individual member states of the European Union (EU) and the input of the EU itself in Central Asia are examined to see the extent to which the initiatives in health-related areas form part of a wider diplomatic strategy and whether their effectiveness is related to the means by which the planned improved health outcomes are achieved. This article seeks to draw lessons from the European experience to increase understanding of the role of health in global diplomacy.

Global health diplomacy—reconstructing power and governance

“…One of the most fundamental debates about global health diplomacy is the dynamic relationship between health being a foreign policy tool and foreign policy serving health goals. 40 Many international relations and global health scholars have discussed health diplomacy through the lens of soft power, 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 smart power, 46 , 47 , 48 or disaster diplomacy. 49 These scholars point to the efforts of global health diplomacy in improving relations between countries and contributing to peace and security.…”

Multi-level health governance and health diplomacy

“…In this special issue, we explore health diplomacy from a regional perspective. The articles in this special section, as well as others such as Collins, Bekenova, & Kagarmanova (2018), present the examples of regional involvement in health diplomacy by discussing how regional bodies are using it as a tool toward diff erent health policy goals (the EU, Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN], African Union [AU], Southern African Development Community [SADC], and Union of South American Nations [UNASUR]). The Vincent Rollet article, "Health interregionalism in combating communicable diseases: EU cooperation with ASEAN and the Afri-can Union," discusses how the EU cooperates with the AU and ASEAN in the area of communicable diseases.…”