The Politics of Police Diplomacy

If, as some suggest, we are in the foothills of another major conflict, it is worth remembering that one of the objectives of the United Nations remains to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war', by promoting peace operations. If peace is not just the absence of conflict but the presence of justice, then international policing plays a vital role in the pursuit of the international justice-based outcomes which underpin peace. Serving both international good citizenship and the national interest, the Australian Federal Police has engaged internationally in various capacities over a sixty-year period in UN, multi-lateral and bi-lateral efforts aimed at peace and justice-based solutions. This book reviews many of these efforts through a diplomatic lens and argues that, as an effective instrument of preventative and restorative diplomacy, the AFP has earned a place as a legitimate participant in foreign policy considerations, and that these efforts serve as an example of how international policing can be done and why it merits its own diplomatic Track.