Apology Diplomacy: Justice For All?

In this new Discussion Papers in Diplomacy, Shannon Jones looks into how reparative justice in recent years has been used increasingly as a mechanism of diplomacy and reconciliation, while the best known case studies remain those of Japan and Germany after the Second World War. However, even in the context of the same atrocity, some victims receive apologies and material compensation and others do not. This 'acknowledgement gap' casts doubt on whether reparative policies are sincere expressions of guilt and remorse. This paper investigates how states make decisions about whether or not to provide reparations for victims in an effort to compensate them for violations of their human rights. It examines the conditions that influence the type of reparative justice -material or symbolic -that a state is most likely to offer. Reparative policies, while cloaked in moral rhetoric, are the outcomes of political bargains. Reparative justice is most likely when a state believes it can enhance its security by restoring diplomatic relationships with offended neighbors, removing barriers to economic cooperation, or enhance its international prestige by demonstrating a commitment to its purported values.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shannon Jones is a Ph.D. student at Georgia State University. She holds a M.A. in Political Science from Georgia State University, United States, and a B.A. in International Relations from Agnes Scott College. She has studied human rights and migration law at Radboud University and participated in the EU Studies exchange program at the Université de Strasbourg. Her research interests include political apologies and reparations, identity politics, and transitional justice.