A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or
international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation
and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion
of information and friendly relations. Diplomats are the oldest form of any of the
foreign policy institutions of the state, predating by centuries foreign ministers and
ministerial offices.
Etymology Diplomat is derived from the Greek διπλωμάτης,
diplōmátēs, the holder of a diploma, referring in this case not to an educational certificate
but to a diplomat's letters of accreditation, which enable him or her to carry out duties
on behalf of one country or institution within the jurisdiction of another country or institution.
Terminology
The ranks of diplomats— ambassadors, envoys, ministers, and chargés d'affaires — come
under regulation by international law, namely the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
of 1961. Diplomats can be contrasted with consuls and
attachés, who represent their state in a number of administrative ways, but who don't
have the diplomat’s political functions. Function
Diplomats in posts collect and report information that could affect national interests, often
with advice about how the home-country government should respond. Then, once any policy response
has been decided in the home country's capital, posts bear major responsibility for implementing
it. Diplomats have the job of conveying, in the most persuasive way possible, the views
of the home government to the governments to which they are accredited and, in doing
so, of trying to convince those governments to act in ways that suit home-country interests.
In this way, diplomats are part of the beginning and the end of each loop in the continuous
process through which foreign policy develops. In general, it has become harder for diplomats
to act autonomously. Whereas in the past Thomas Jefferson could write to his Secretary of
State, "We have not heard from our Ambassador in Spain for two years. If we do not hear
from him this year, let us write him a letter", secure communication systems, emails and mobile
telephones can track down and instruct the most reclusive head of mission. The same technology
in reverse gives diplomats the capacity for more immediate input about the policy-making
processes in the home capital. Secure email has transformed the contact between
diplomats and the ministry. It is less likely to leak, and enables more personal contact
than the formal cablegram, with its wide distribution and impersonal style.
Advocacy The home country will usually send instructions
to a diplomatic post on what foreign policy goals to pursue, but decisions on tactics
- who needs to be influenced, what will best persuade them, who are potential allies and
adversaries, and how it can be done - are for the diplomats overseas to make.
In this operation, the intelligence, integrity, cultural understanding and energy of individual
diplomats become critical. If competent, they will have developed relationships grounded
in trust and mutual understanding with influential members of the country in which they are accredited.
They will have worked hard to understand the motives, thought patterns and culture of the
other side. Negotiation
The diplomat should be an excellent negotiator but, above all, a catalyst for peace and understanding
between peoples. The diplomat's principal role is to foster peaceful relations between
states. This role takes on heightened importance if war breaks out. Negotiation must necessarily
continue - but within significantly altered contexts.
Training Most diplomats have university degrees in
international relations, political science, economics, or law. In India, the Indian Foreign
Service is the gateway for anybody who has completed graduation and aspires to become
a diplomat. However, the selection process is tough and lengthy, with an annual intake
of roughly 20 to 25 candidates every year. Status and public image
Diplomats have generally been considered members of an exclusive and prestigious profession.
The public image of diplomats has been described as "a caricature of pinstriped men gliding
their way around a never-ending global cocktail party" J. W. Burton has noted that "despite
the absence of any specific professional training, diplomacy has a high professional status,
due perhaps to a degree of secrecy and mystery that its practitioners self-consciously promote."
The state supports the high status, privileges and self-esteem of its diplomats in order
to support its own international status and position.
The high regard for diplomats is also due to most countries' conspicuous selection of
diplomats, with regard to their professionality and ability to behave according to a certain
etiquette, in order to effectively promote their interests. Also, international law grants
diplomats extensive privileges and immunities, which further distinguished the diplomat from
the status of an ordinary citizen. Reflecting a dissatisfaction with as the diplomat's
elite and out of touch image, African American author Langston Hughes imagined an alternative
figure in the realm of international relations. Hughes spliced the terms "diplomat" and "hip
to that" to coin the term "hip-to-mat." The figure of the hip-to-mat attends summit meetings
and takes up the international situation with an eye toward supplying world populations
with adequate food and letting "everybody have civil rights, white, black, yellow, brown,
gray, grizzle, or green." Psychology
While posted overseas, there is a danger that diplomats may become disconnected from their
own country and culture. Sir Harold Nicolson acknowledged that diplomats can become "denationalised,
internationalised and therefore dehydrated, an elegant empty husk".
Uniform Notes and references
External links Media related to Diplomats at Wikimedia Commons