The Fundamentals of Diplomacy

Diplomacy has long been attached to the service of one’s own State, ensuring that negotiations and arrangements meet foremost the objectives of its foreign policy. In the context of the EU, SAARC, ASEAN or other politico-economic regional groups, diplomacy evidently attains multilateral complexity, seeking a dynamic balance of multiple shared interests and complementary gains between nations. This is equally the case with multi-polar groups and platforms representing planetary concerns, be they more or less political.

Multi-State diplomacy relies on extensive programmatic and technocratic competences. It is about gathering pieces of a puzzle and guiding – without commanding – their adjacent fitting to form a comprehensive picture. It increasingly involves citizen diplomacy.