DIPLOMACY

the established method of international discourse or the art of managing international relations, chiefly by negotiation. Historically, it meant the conduct of official relations between sovereign states, usually bilaterally. In the 20th century, however, diplomacy expanded to cover summit meetings and other international conferences, public and parliamentary diplomacy, the international activities of supranational and subnational entities, unofficial diplomacy by nongovernmental elements, and the work of international civil servants. The term derives via French from the ancient Greek diploma, composed of diplo, meaning folded in two, and the suffix -ma, an object. The folded document conferred a privilegeoften a permit to traveland the term came to denote documents whereby princes granted such favours. Later it applied to all solemn documents issued by chancelleries, especially those containing agreements between sovereigns. Diplomacy became identified with international relations, and the direct tie to documents lapsed (except in diplomatics, the science of authenticating old official documents). In the 18th century, the French term diplomate (diplomat or diplomatist) became current for a person authorized to negotiate on behalf of a state. Diplomacy is often confused with foreign policy; the terms are related but not synonymous. Diplomacy is the chief instrument of foreign policy, which is set by political leaders, though diplomats may advise them. Foreign policy prescribes goals, strategies toward their accomplishment, and the broader tactics to be used. Diplomacy carries out the policy, using whatever tactics seem appropriate within the prescribed guidelines. Its primary tool is negotiation, mainly by accredited envoys (from the French envoy, one who is sent), though political leaders also negotiate. Foreign policy is generally publicly enunciated; most diplomacy is secret, though its results are usually made public. The political leaders, traditionally of sovereign states, who devise foreign policy pursue the national interest (or what they perceive to be the national interest), adjusting the policy to external conditions. Primary responsibility for devising policy may lie with the head of state or government, a cabinet or a nominally nongovernmental collective leadership, the staff of the country's leader, or a minister who presides over the foreign ministry, directs policy execution, supervises the ministry's officials, and instructs the diplomats abroad. A foreign minister has some latitude in making decisions within a general policy; whether he is the final authority or must refer issues elsewhere depends not only on the nature of the questions but also on the political structure and circumstances as well as the locus of power within the country and its leadership. The goal of diplomacy is to further the state's interests, which are dictated by geography, history, and economics. Safeguarding its independence, security, and integrityterritorial, political, and economiccomes first. Preserving wide freedom of action to the state is nearly as important. Beyond that, diplomacy seeks maximum national advantage without using force and preferably without causing resentment. Diplomacy is an alternative to war to achieve a nation's goals. Its weapon is words, and it often, but not always, seeks to preserve peace. It usually, but not invariably, negotiates to achieve agreements and resolve issues between or among states. Diplomacy may employ coercive threats; its range, flexibility, and effectiveness are linked in part to the relative power of the state or states using it. Diplomacy seeks to strengthen the state, gaining advantages and allies while neutralizing its opponents. Thus, it tries to create good will toward the state it represents. This article discusses the history of diplomacy and the ways in which modern diplomacy is conducted, including the selection and training of diplomats and the organization of diplomatic bodies. For a discussion of the legal rules governing diplomatic negotiation and the preparation of treaties and other agreements, see international law. The United Nations, one venue for diplomacy, is considered in detail in United Nations. Foreign policy and diplomatic history in the 20th century is discussed in international relations. The study of international relations as an academic discipline is treated in social science. the established method of international discourse or art of managing international relations, chiefly by negotiation. In the past diplomacy referred to official relations between sovereign states, but in the 20th century it has expanded to cover summits and other international conferences and the activities of such entities as the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Diplomacy is often confused with foreign policy, but it is instead the chief instrument through which the goals, strategies, and broad tacticsoften politically determinedof foreign policy are implemented. Foreign policy is usually publicly stated; diplomacy, on the other hand, is generally conducted in secret, though its results are often made public. Although traces exist that point to diplomacy in prehistoric societies, modern diplomacy originated in ancient Greece. Greek diplomacy first employed heralds as inviolable messengers between warring states; later, envoys chosen for their oratorical skills were sent on diplomatic missions. A special class, the proxeni, or consular agents, were distinguished from envoys by their resident missions and by the commercial tasks in which they specialized. Roman and medieval European contributions were primarily legal: the application of civil law to treaties and the beginnings of a formal international law. In the late Middle Ages papal diplomacy played a leading role; papal legates and nuncii were the models from which secular rulers fashioned their own agents. From the 12th century these agents were called ambassadors. Italy, particularly Venice, conducted the most extensive diplomacy and influenced its development in other European states. By the 16th century resident embassies were common throughout Europe. The presence of a number of ambassadors, each representing the dignity of his sovereign, in the various capitals led to issues of precedence among the diplomatic corps, and much diplomatic protocol descends from solutions fashioned in this period. In the 17th century the focus of diplomacy began to shift from representing the sovereign to representing the national interest; to coordinate and direct this service, in 1626 Cardinal Richelieu instituted in France the first modern foreign ministry. This trend accelerated in the 19th century as power shifted from royal courts to cabinets. Also at this time the pattern of European diplomacy began to be adopted by other nations; by the end of the century the Western diplomatic system was in evidence throughout the world. Advances in communication and transportation in the 19th and 20th centuries changed the conduct of diplomacy. Ambassadors communicated more frequently with political leaders in the capital, and politicians themselves took an increasingly active role in diplomatic negotiations. Heads of state had attended major diplomatic conferences (such as the Congress of Vienna of 181415) in the past, but in the late 20th century summitry and other international conferences brought further involvement from politicians in the diplomatic process. Diplomatic venues multiplied as well. The League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations (UN), were the most prominent international platforms, but bodies such as the European Communities, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the Organization of African Unity also received envoys from interested states. As diplomacy became more public it became more hazardous. Despite extraterritoriality (q.v.) and other protections of diplomatic immunity, diplomats became a target of terrorists and other disaffected groups, and kidnappings and assassinations were not uncommon in the late 20th century. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, adopted in 1961 by the UN Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities, recognized types of diplomatic agents and the agreed protocols from which they operate. It specified three classes of heads of missions: ambassadors or nuncios; envoys, ministers, or internuncios; and chargs d'affaires. The first two are accredited to heads of state, the third to ministers of foreign affairs. These representatives, along with members of their staffs and the consular corps, constitute a country's foreign service (q.v.). Their primary functions include representing the sending state in the host state, protecting the interests of the sending state, negotiating on its behalf, gathering information on conditions and developments in the host country, and promoting friendly relations between the two countries. Diplomatic tasks have broadened to include economic, cultural, disarmament, and other negotiations, usually conducted by or with the support of negotiators who are specialists in the field. Diplomats themselves have become more specialized in training and education, though some countries, especially small ones, continue to favour generalists in staffing their diplomatic corps. Additional reading Classic works on diplomacy include Niccolo Machiavelli, Advice to Raffaello Girolami When He Went as Ambassador to the Emperor, trans. from Italian by Allan Gilbert, pp. 116119 in Machiavelli's Chief Works, and Others, vol. 1 (1965), a letter written in 1552 by the great political theorist; Abraham De Wicquefort, L'Ambassadeur et ses fonctions, 2 vol. (1681), also in many later editions; Franois De Callires, On the Manner of Negotiating with Princes, on the Uses of Diplomacy, the Choice of Ministers and Envoys, and the Personal Qualities Necessary for Success in Missions Abroad (1919; also published as The Practice of Diplomacy; reissued 1963; originally published in French, 1716), a famous introduction to the subject by a French diplomat; Antoine Pecquet, Discours sur l'art de ngocier (1737), another French treatise on the art of negotiation; and a modern work by a British diplomat and writer, active in the service at the beginning of the 20th century, Harold Nicolson, Diplomacy, 3rd ed. (1963, reissued 1988). Other modern works on international relations, diplomatic and consular services, negotiations, and treaties include Jos Calvet De Magalhes, The Pure Concept of Diplomacy (1988; originally published in Portuguese, 1982); K.M. Panikkar, The Principles and Practice of Diplomacy (1952); G.E. Do Nascimento E Silva, Diplomacy in International Law (1972); Martin Mayer, The Diplomats (1983); and R.P. Barston, Modern Diplomacy (1988).For the history of diplomacy, see Ragnar Numelin, The Beginnings of Diplomacy: A Sociological Study of Intertribal and International Relations (1950), exploring the practices of prehistoric societies; Frank Adcock and D.J. Mosley, Diplomacy in Ancient Greece (1975); Richard L. Walker, The Multi-State System of Ancient China (1953, reprinted 1971); Donald E. Queller, The Office of Ambassador in the Middle Ages (1967); Garrett Mattingly, Renaissance Diplomacy (1955, reprinted 1988); William James Roosen, The Age of Louis XIV: The Rise of Modern Diplomacy (1976); Immanuel C.Y. Hs, China's Entrance into the Family of Nations: The Diplomatic Phase, 18581880 (1960); Alan Palmer, The Chancelleries of Europe (1983), focusing on the 19th century; Robert A. Graham, Vatican Diplomacy: A Study of Church and State on the International Plane (1959); R.B. Mowat, Diplomacy and Peace (1935); and Inis L. Claude, Jr., Sword into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization, 4th ed. (1971, reprinted 1984).Diplomatic services and foreign ministries of individual states are discussed in Norman A. Graham, Richard L. Kauffman, and Michael F. Oppenheimer, The United States and Multilateral Diplomacy (1984); Roger Bullen (ed.), The Foreign Office, 17821982 (1984), on Britain; Jean Baillou (ed.), Les Affaires trangres et le corps diplomatique franais, 2 vol. (1984), on France; Robert S. Ozaki and Walter Arnold (eds.), Japan's Foreign Relations: A Global Search for Economic Security (1985); James Chieh Hsiung, Law and Policy in China's Foreign Relations: A Study of Attitudes and Practice (1972); Jeffrey Benner, The Indian Foreign Policy Bureaucracy (1985); Ronald M. Schneider, Brazil, Foreign Policy of a Future World Power (1976); R.P. Barston (ed.), The Other Powers: Studies in the Foreign Policies of Small States (1973); Robert J. Moore, Third-World Diplomats in Dialogue with the First World: The New Diplomacy (1985), the partially polemical views of a Guyanan diplomat; and Elmer Plischke, Microstates in World Affairs: Policy Problems and Options (1977).For analyses of regional developments and influences that shape them, see Charles G. Fenwick, The Organization of American States: The Inter-American Regional System (1963); Jacqueline Anne Braveboy-Wagner, The Caribbean in World Affairs: The Foreign Policies of the English-Speaking States (1989); Heraldo Muoz and Joseph S. Tulchin (eds.), Latin American Nations in World Politics (1984); Stanley A. De Smith, Microstates and Micronesia: Problems of America's Pacific Islands and Other Minute Territories (1970); Peter Willetts, The Non-Aligned Movement: The Origins of a Third World Alliance (1978); Caroline Thomas, In Search of Security: The Third World in International Relations (1987); Augustus Richard Norton and Martin H. Greenberg (eds.), The International Relations of the Palestine Liberation Organization (1989); and Ali A. Mazrui, Africa's International Relations: The Diplomacy of Dependency and Change (1977).Informed explorations of diplomatic negotiations in international disputes are offered in Fred Charles Ikl, How Nations Negotiate (1964, reprinted 1982); Arthur S. Lall, Modern International Negotiation: Principles and Practice (1966); Arthur S. Lall (ed.), Multilateral Negotiation and Mediation: Instruments and Methods (1985); and I. William Zartman and Maureen R. Berman, The Practical Negotiator (1982).Structures of diplomatic administration and training of diplomatic corps are examined in William I. Bacchus, Staffing for Foreign Affairs: Personnel Systems for the 1980s and 1990s (1983); A. Doak Barnett, The Making of Foreign Policy in China: Structure and Process (1985); Andrew L. Steigman, The Foreign Service of the United States: First Line of Defense (1985); and Zara Steiner (ed.), The Times Survey of Foreign Ministries of the World (1982).Special studies offer insights on various topics. On protection of diplomats, see P.J. Boyce, Foreign Affairs for New States: Some Questions of Credentials (1977); Grant V. McClanahan, Diplomatic Immunity: Principles, Practices, Problems (1989); and Natalie Kaufman Hevener (ed.), Diplomacy in a Dangerous World: Protection for Diplomats Under International Law (1986). Elmer Plischke, Diplomats in Chief: The President at the Summit (1986), deals with summits. Walter Isard et al., Arms Races, Arms Control, and Conflict Analysis: Contributions from Peace Science and Peace Economics (1988), explores diplomacy and peace research. See also Martin F. Herz (ed.), The Role of Embassies in Promoting Business (1981), and Diplomacy: The Role of the Wife (1981), brief symposia.Useful reflections by practicing diplomats include Douglas Busk, The Craft of Diplomacy: How to Run a Diplomatic Service (1967); William Macomber, The Angels' Game: A Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (1975); Pietro Quaroni, Diplomatic Bags: An Ambassador's Memoirs, trans. from Italian and ed. by Anthony Rhodes (1966); Ernest W. Spaulding, Ambassadors Ordinary and Extraordinary (1961); Charles W. Thayer, Diplomat (1959, reprinted 1974); and Humphrey Trevelyan, Diplomatic Channels (1973). Sally Marks Modern diplomatic practice Diplomatic agents The UN Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities adopted the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in 1961 to replace the 19th-century rules of Vienna and Aix. It specifies three classes of heads of mission: (1) ambassadors or nuncios accredited to heads of state and other heads of missions of equivalent rank, (2) envoys, ministers, and internuncios accredited to heads of state, and (3) chargs d'affaires accredited to ministers of foreign affairs. A charg d'affaires ad interim is a deputy temporarily acting for an absent head of mission. The fourth class established at Aix-la-Chapelle, that of minister-resident, lapsed in the 20th century, which produced some variations on the other classes. In 1918 Russia's new regime abolished diplomatic ranks. When the Soviets gained recognition they accredited plenipotentiary representatives, known in the Russian abbreviation as polpredy, or in English as plenpots. But under the rules then prevailing they lacked precedence and ranked last, so the Soviet Union reverted to normal titles. Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime sends Libyan Peoples' Bureaus, which have precedence under the present wording. Members of the Commonwealth accredit high commissioners to each other. Finally, the Vatican occasionally sends legates on special missions to Roman Catholic countries and in 1965 began to appoint pro-nuncios. It accredited apostolic nuncios only to those few Roman Catholic states where the papal envoy is always the doyen, or dean, of the diplomatic corps; internuncios elsewhere found themselves in the tiny remaining group of ministers. Hence, the title of pro-nuncio was devised to gain entry into the first class. Emissaries of the first two classes are usually titled extraordinary and plenipotentiary but are neither; special full powers are issued to enable an envoy to sign a treaty. Precedence within each class is fixed by the date of presentation of credentials; otherwise there is no real distinction among them. The senior ambassador by length of service is doyen (unless the nuncio traditionally holds the post), convening and speaking for the local diplomatic corps as needed. Rights and privileges All heads of mission receive the same privileges and immunities, many of which their aides also enjoy. Diplomatic immunity probably began when prehistoric peoples first realized that eating the envoy was not conducive to agreement. Thus, diplomatic agents and their families are inviolable, not subject to arrest or worse, even in wartime. Their homes are also inviolable, and they are largely outside the criminal and civil law in the host stateeven as a witnessthough many missions waive some exemptions, especially for parking tickets. In the host state, the foreign envoy is free of taxes and military obligations. His personal baggage and household effects are not inspected by the host state or third states crossed in transit, in which he also has immunity. The physical property of the mission enjoys immunities and privileges as well. The flag and emblem of the sending state may be displayed on the chancellery and on the residence and vehicles of the head of mission. The mission's archives and official correspondence are inviolable even if relations are severed or war is declared; it is entitled to secure communication with its government and its other missions. The diplomatic bag and couriers are inviolable; wireless facilities are either afforded or installed at the mission with the host state's consent. The head of mission's residence and the chancellery (usually now called the embassy) are extraterritorial. The legal fiction is maintained that these premises are part of the sending state's territory, not that of the host state; even local fire fighters cannot enter foreign territory without consent. For this reason, political opponents of harsh regimes seek asylum in embassies, legations, and nunciatures. Although widely practiced, the right of political asylum is not fully established in international law except in Latin America.