Defining and Measuring Diplomatic Influence

Abstract

This review found no sources of straightforward indicators for use in measuring diplomatic influence. The literature and evaluations found to recommend the use of tailor-made evaluations to account for “differences in diplomatic settings, diplomatic activities and policy fields”. They hinge on developing a theory of change alongside questions and evaluation criteria that are context-specific. They rely on assessing intermediate goals as a ‘proxy’ for the immeasurable long-term influence, and causal contributions (contributed to a result) rather than causal attributions (caused a result). It was also frequently mentioned that programme designers tend to design programmes to support diplomatic influence without specific and measurable objectives because influencing processes are by nature non-linear. In these cases, evaluations will be correspondingly unable to provide specific and measurable indicators of achievement.