Rhye's and Fall of Civilization guide to diplomacy
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The diplomacy game
by Blasphemous
Overview
The diplomacy game in Civ (=RFC/W) is more difficult than you would think. Basically, what I've come to understand is that there are approximately three ways to go. I will describe these three general strategies; perhaps there are others as well.
The Partisan
This is probably the most basic and obvious strategy, but it's not an easy one to take. Basically you aim to make good friends of as many neighbors as possible (theoretically they don't have to be your neighbors, but you probably want to keep your neighbors happy more than you care about the farther-away civs.) The most important thing is to pick a small cluster of thick-and-thin friends, and then make friends of their friends, enemies of their enemies. Once you go to war with a friend of your friends you may be surprised how quickly it all falls apart. As a pacifist this strategy can work very well. I seldom play the pacifist. One of the best ways to please your group of friends and keep you all together is religion. Pick your friends, pick the religion they use, and work hard at getting them all to have that religion in all of their cities so they never want to leave it. A general tip that is always true is to sign Open Borders with anyone you want to be friends with ASAP, as it improves your diplomacy with them, especially over time. It also gives you money.
The Isolator
This is probably the easiest way to go, but it's kind of risky. Your general strategy is not to rely on other civs. Trade with everybody equally, don't pick friends and enemies - except for the purpose of wars - and never have a favorite. Be completely opportunistic. Friends and enemies will come and go, nobody will ever really love you, and rarely will anybody really hate you. You don't actually depend on anybody else so you can really do whatever you want, to an extent. A large army will help keep you safe.
The Kingpin
This is basically a variant of the Isolator strategy only usable when you're third or second place, or sometimes first place. So you play one of the two other strategies until you're one of the top three. Once you're there, the idea is to play Machiavellian. You favor the weak civs, and the enemies of your enemies, and any weak civ in a position from which some more power could harm a strong civ. The most important part of this strategy is not to ever bow down to anyone's demands. Your general trend should be to level the playing field by weakening the other top five civs and strengthening the bottom five civs. This can draw a lot of fire away from you, and when you're high up there on the score chart drawing fire away from yourself is vital for your survival (until such a point when you're so far ahead of the rest that you simply can't lose anymore.) Remember that even when you own all of Europe and the Americas, you might have a hard time holding that land against a dogpile of all the remaining civs in Asia and Africa. As the Kingpin, you should use wars purely as a tool of diplomacy, though major campaigns of conquest don't actually hurt as long as you stay mindful of diplomacy. A good way to hurt a friend of an enemy is to declare war on them and buy every living weak civ in the world into the war with technology. This will cause a world war to break out in which your enemies will be busy harming themselves. And whoever loses the war is disposable to you anyhow. Whoever ends up on top can be your next enemy. If a neighbor happens to fall, that's an opportunity to spread your control to another city…or ten.
In fact, war should be treated as an extension of diplomacy in all strategies. This simple rule is what makes choosing your friends as the Partisan so hard. You have to think ahead about who you may want to conquer, and keep them on the enemy side of the fence. Preferably, their neighbors should be on your side of the fence, unless you want to take them in as well. For the Isolationist all of this is somewhat less important because the whole strategy is to be inconsistent and free.
Congresses
by Pacifist
Triggers
After any civilization has discovered Nationalism (which BTW has been delayed in RFC due to its switch with Constitution), the world congresses start. (America starts with Nationalism so the first world congress is usually in the late 1730's unless you beeline for it). This is supposedly a system to balance the world powers other than by war, but if used correctly, you can readily destabilize your AI opponents. Basically, the top 3 civs in score always get invited, and then anywhere from 1-5 other civs also get invited to ask of other cities to add to their empires. You'll get a message 2 turns before a congress is about to start whether you want to participate (ALWAYS CLICK YES since you don't want other people to dictate your fate). Even if you're Ethiopia (whose UP allows no demands on its cities), you want the opportunity to destabilize other civs by voting yes and building relationships.
After the UN is built, congresses expire.
Bribing other civs
1 turn before the congress you'll have the opportunity to bribe another civ to vote in your favor by a certain percentage of your gold (25%, 50% or 75%). Obviously, the friendlier the civ is to you, the more likely it's going to take the bribe. If you succeed in bribing that civ, usually it will not ask for your cities. I find that if I have to bribe somebody, I must either be really hated (because I'm too powerful) or I can almost clinch any city with one more vote since almost everybody is friendly to me. Spending more than 200 gold for a bribe is almost not worth it. Vassals are much more likely to vote for you so count that when doing bribes (which is another reason to prop your vassals up with techs).
If the bribe is rejected, the civ may actively vote against you.
The congress
Each of the civs will ask in turn a city they want. A simple majority wins the vote. You can vote other yes, no or abstain. Cities that can be asked can be other civ's, barbarian or independent. The choice of cities includes those that you have a "historical" interest in (e.g. Britain sometimes asks for Guangzhou, and France asks for New Orleans if built by another civ) or those that you have culture in, or nearby independent cities. Capitals cannot be demanded. If a vote wins, the AI will always cede that city. However, if your cities get demanded and the vote is yes, you have the choice to refuse ceding that city with the result that some of the AI civs that voted yes declaring war on you (sometimes the civ that asks for that city won't declare war). The more defensive pacts you have, the less likely the AI is going to declare war. Cities in “core areas” with culture > 2000 are less likely to be asked in congresses.
My tricks
If you are lucky enough to be last to ask for your city, always vote yes on other people's requests as long as that civ isn't your enemy. In general, the larger an empire, the lower the science rate, so giving Russia a tiny Mongolian outpost is a good idea. On the other hand, giving your powerful neighbor Rome isn't a good idea in general. Be aware that if a city is lost via a congress, stability points are lost; I've seen an unstable Germany collapse after losing 1-2 cities that way. That's why it's always a good idea not to cede your cities and brave a phony war (I've had England declare war on me when I'm Arabia and they were asking for Sana'a). Sometimes abstaining will allow you not to antagonize a friendly civ, so that it will vote for you (or at least abstain) when your turn comes. Remember you just need a simple majority to win the vote; conversely, a tie vote means no in terms of handing the city over. If your empire is already sprawling, you may not want to ask for any cities since it will increase your science cost. If I have a friendly vassal (i.e. not acquired by war), I usually vote yes for them so that they will be stronger and have more resources for me.
