Proactive, Responsible, and in Good Faith: Network Diplomacy in Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract

This article provides insight into Mexico’s experience with network diplomacy by highlighting the role of the Directorate General for Liaison with Civil Society Organizations within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We take the Directorate as coordination central or a focal point for channeling specific interests on the part of civil-society organizations to different areas within the ministry dealing with multilateral issues, which facilitates and keeps a track record of growing demands for inclusive diplomacy. Our research takes stock of legal–institutional provisions for the Directorate, and its outreach activities from 2012–2018; it includes a brief examination of its engagement with civil-society organizations in the design of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We find evidence of an evolution of network diplomacy in Mexico, and the intensification of the role of the Directorate. Meanwhile, the shift toward network diplomacy challenges more traditional understandings of Mexican diplomacy in a wider context of rapid change and proliferation of civil-society organizations seeking to participate in global governance.