The Rise and Fall of Diplomacy from Below: The Rebel Cooperation of Ya Basta!

Under what conditions are radical alternatives to state-led diplomacy feasible? Diplomatic studies have so far denied attention to those diplomatic practices taking place without national mediation. Building on the concept of diplomacy from below (DFB), the article aims to understand under what conditions this newly theorised form of alternative diplomacy is possible in contexts of armed violence. To do so, we present the case of the diplomatic action of the (post)autonomist Association Ya Basta! between 1997 and 2004. The study adopts an interpretivist approach, reconstructing activists’ stories along four conflict scenarios (Mexico, Palestine, Colombia, and Iraq). The empirical analysis allowed for formulating a “working hypothesis” according to which DFB is feasible only among groups sharing an ideological background and under minimum-security conditions for freedom of movement and physical integrity. The paper innovates debates on (para)diplomacy and opens a new research agenda on diplomatic interactions between subaltern groups in (post)conflict scenarios.