Arts & International Affairs: Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer/Autumn 2018 | Page 6

INTRODUCTION: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ARE ACOUSTIC. LET’S LISTEN!
that reveals numerous examples in the international arena. Diplomats must also
learn to listen carefully; their ears can be far more important than their mouths.
• To shed light on international interactions by other means. Diplomacy is compared
to an art, but rarely such comparison has been taken seriously. And yet, classical
diplomatic functions include an acoustic aspect (Ahrendt et al. 2014; Bély
2003). For example, music accompanies the rituals of diplomatic conferences
from bilateral to multilateral meetings without forgetting the celebration of
peace treaties as well. Diplomats promote new artists and genres thanks to their
resources and networks. In other words, musical scenes�open or restricted, visible
or not�are closely linked to diplomatic scenes (Ramel and Prévost-Thomas
2018). Furthermore, we can also observe a sonic dimension of wars (Daughtry
2015; Jardin 2016) that is not limited to an instrumental conception of music
and sounds: the usages of Ipod during warfare for stimulating courage, the
acousmatic torture of prisoners in Guantanamo, or the usage of music therapy
for tending to the veterans. Understanding the role of music in wars supposes
here to take into account emotions, senses, and sensation (Hast 2017).
• To transcend the “turns” in IR. Music embodies a “supreme mystery” for Human
sciences according to Claude Lévi-Strauss in Le cru et le cuit (Lévi-Strauss,
2009). Despite the methodological difficulties, describing musicians, songs,
performances in International Affairs, music can be approached as a total social
fact to highlight the relations between war, diplomacy, and society. For instance,
it takes into account the role of practices (practical turn) and of materiality (materialist
turn) as well. Without using a unique perspective inspired by Bourdieu,
for instance, this path means to describe musical practices in international relations
but also the spaces where music�or sound�resonates that are all but
neutral... For example, the concert organized by President Putin in Palmyre
during May 2016 is a strong symbolic gesture that sets up a link between strategic
practices during war in Syria and music for strengthening the political image
of Russia in the Middle-East. Furthermore, the acoustic turn does not exclude
a priori modes of thinking or conceptual tools. On the contrary, it gives opportunity
to enrich a sociology of International Relations (Albert and Lapid 2016).
For instance, how should we understand concerts as a gift in diplomacy? What
are the symbolic dimensions of music inside intergovernmental organizations?
What are the links between the circulation of music across borders and the constitution
of an international society?
Many articles of Arts and International Affairs have already provided some directions in
previous issues from the idea of performance (Volume 2, Issue 1) to cultural conversations
(Volume 2, Issue 2). This current issue is composed of two Longform articles,
two brushstrokes and one multimodal. The two Longform articles deal with classical
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