Diplomatic Negotation

Diplomatic Negotiations

Although negotiations have traditionally been left to professional diplomats, very important negotiations are increasingly being undertaken by specially selected envoys or foreign ministers and by heads of state. Examples of this trend were the “shuttle diplomacy” of the U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger in the Middle East and President Jimmy Carter’s personal involvement in negotiating a peace treaty between the Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and the Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Resident diplomats, however, still do almost all the day-to-day negotiating and interacting with leaders of other states.

Diplomatic Negotiations Strategies and Tactics

The problem of deciding what practices and tactics are most effective in negotiating is difficult. The German-American political scientist Hans J. Morgenthau in his book Politics Among Nations (1948) perhaps best summed up the ideal of modern diplomacy:
(1) Diplomacy must be divested of its crusading spirit;
(2) the objectives of foreign policy must be defined in terms of the national interest and must be supported with adequate power;
(3) diplomacy must look at the situation from the point of view of other nations;
(4) nations must be willing to compromise on all issues that are not vital to them;
(5) the armed forces are the instrument of foreign policy, not its master; and (6) the government is the leader of public opinion, not its slave.

Source: “Diplomacy” Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia

Further References about Diplomacy

Department of Foreign Affairs information.
Department of State information.
Diplomatic Missions information.
Foreign Services information.
Privileges and Immunities information.

Resources

See Also

MPEPIL: Diplomacy and consular relations
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
Treaties resources
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
International Law

Further Reading

Diplomacy and peace. Bibliography
Diplomacy and Coffee (Book)


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