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A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. [1]
- Overview
- Diplomatic tasks
- Diplomatic agreements
According to the Vienna Convention, the functions of a diplomatic mission include (1) the representation of the sending state in the host state at a level beyond the merely social and ceremonial; (2) the protection within the host state of the interests of the sending state and its nationals, including their property and shares in firms; (3) the negotiation and signing of agreements with the host state when authorized; (4) the reporting and gathering of information by all lawful means on conditions and developments in the host country for the sending government; and (5) the promotion of friendly relations between the two states and the furthering of their economic, commercial, cultural, and scientific relations. Diplomatic missions also provide public services for their nationals, including acting as a notary public, providing electoral registration, issuing passports and papers for military conscription, referring injured or sick nationals to local physicians and lawyers, and ensuring nondiscriminatory treatment for those charged with or imprisoned for crimes.
Services to citizens and the local public are provided by junior and consular staff, whereas specialized attachés engage in protection and much promotional activity. The ambassador is charged with carrying out all the tasks of the diplomatic mission through subordinates or through personal intervention with local authorities when necessary. Most ambassadors are now heavily engaged in the promotion of trade and in assisting private companies in commercial disputes. The head of mission, the head’s spouse, and the deputy spend much time entertaining visiting politicians and attending receptions—at which some business is conducted and information is collected—but representation also entails lodging official or informal protests with the host government or explaining and defending national policy. A diplomat’s most demanding daily activities, however, remain reporting, analyzing, and negotiating.
Reports are filed by telegram, telephone, facsimile, and e-mail, usually on an encrypted basis to protect the confidentiality of information. (It is now much less common to file reports by a letter or dispatch to be hand-carried in the diplomatic pouch by a courier.) One of the ambassador’s key tasks is to predict a developing crisis, a task accomplished through the gathering of information from an array of sources and the use of experience and expert knowledge in identifying, analyzing, and interpreting emerging key issues and patterns and their implications. The ambassador’s duty is to advise and warn, and he is expected to brief his government in detail and without distortion about the content of his conversations with the host foreign minister, the prime minister, and other key officials and politicians.
Beyond these functions, the ambassador negotiates as instructed. Negotiation is a complex process leading to agreement based on compromise, if it reaches agreement at all. (The object of international negotiation is not necessarily to reach agreement; it is to advance the interests in an ambassador’s charge.) The topic of negotiation and the timing of initial overtures are set by the ambassador’s foreign ministry. The foreign ministry (perhaps with cabinet involvement) also specifies the diplomatic strategy to be used. Usually this is specific to the goals and circumstances. For example, the Marshall Plan, through which the United States provided several western and southern European countries with financial assistance after World War II, was the strategy used by the U.S. to pursue its goals in Europe in 1947. The foreign ministry also establishes broad tactics, often regarding initial demands, bargaining counters, and minimum final position. For the rest the negotiator, either an ambassador or a special envoy, is in most countries free to employ whatever tactics seem best.
These practices are fairly standard, though bilateral negotiations vary greatly and multilateral ones more so. The parties have common interests to negotiate over and areas of disagreement to negotiate about. There are two basic approaches: tackling issues piece by piece and establishing a framework of agreed principles at the outset. The latter works well, but, if it cannot be done, the piecemeal approach is necessary.
In most negotiations initial demands far exceed expectations; concessions are as small and as slow as possible, for early concession indicates eagerness and engenders demands for more concessions. There is intermittent testing of the other side’s firmness and will for an agreement. There may be indirection, lulling of the other party, and bluffing to gain an edge, though it is important for diplomats not to be caught bluffing. Lying in diplomatic negotiations is considered a mistake, but stretching or abridging the truth is permissible. Coercive diplomacy involving the threat of force is risky but cheaper than war; other coercive pressures may include the setting of conditions for concessions, such as debt rescheduling. Compensations to sweeten the offer, warnings, and threats speed agreement if well timed, as do deadlines, whether agreed, imposed by external events, or contained in ultimatums.
According to the Vienna Convention, the functions of a diplomatic mission include (1) the representation of the sending state in the host state at a level beyond the merely social and ceremonial; (2) the protection within the host state of the interests of the sending state and its nationals, including their property and shares in firms; (3) the negotiation and signing of agreements with the host state when authorized; (4) the reporting and gathering of information by all lawful means on conditions and developments in the host country for the sending government; and (5) the promotion of friendly relations between the two states and the furthering of their economic, commercial, cultural, and scientific relations. Diplomatic missions also provide public services for their nationals, including acting as a notary public, providing electoral registration, issuing passports and papers for military conscription, referring injured or sick nationals to local physicians and lawyers, and ensuring nondiscriminatory treatment for those charged with or imprisoned for crimes.
Services to citizens and the local public are provided by junior and consular staff, whereas specialized attachés engage in protection and much promotional activity. The ambassador is charged with carrying out all the tasks of the diplomatic mission through subordinates or through personal intervention with local authorities when necessary. Most ambassadors are now heavily engaged in the promotion of trade and in assisting private companies in commercial disputes. The head of mission, the head’s spouse, and the deputy spend much time entertaining visiting politicians and attending receptions—at which some business is conducted and information is collected—but representation also entails lodging official or informal protests with the host government or explaining and defending national policy. A diplomat’s most demanding daily activities, however, remain reporting, analyzing, and negotiating.
Reports are filed by telegram, telephone, facsimile, and e-mail, usually on an encrypted basis to protect the confidentiality of information. (It is now much less common to file reports by a letter or dispatch to be hand-carried in the diplomatic pouch by a courier.) One of the ambassador’s key tasks is to predict a developing crisis, a task accomplished through the gathering of information from an array of sources and the use of experience and expert knowledge in identifying, analyzing, and interpreting emerging key issues and patterns and their implications. The ambassador’s duty is to advise and warn, and he is expected to brief his government in detail and without distortion about the content of his conversations with the host foreign minister, the prime minister, and other key officials and politicians.
Beyond these functions, the ambassador negotiates as instructed. Negotiation is a complex process leading to agreement based on compromise, if it reaches agreement at all. (The object of international negotiation is not necessarily to reach agreement; it is to advance the interests in an ambassador’s charge.) The topic of negotiation and the timing of initial overtures are set by the ambassador’s foreign ministry. The foreign ministry (perhaps with cabinet involvement) also specifies the diplomatic strategy to be used. Usually this is specific to the goals and circumstances. For example, the Marshall Plan, through which the United States provided several western and southern European countries with financial assistance after World War II, was the strategy used by the U.S. to pursue its goals in Europe in 1947. The foreign ministry also establishes broad tactics, often regarding initial demands, bargaining counters, and minimum final position. For the rest the negotiator, either an ambassador or a special envoy, is in most countries free to employ whatever tactics seem best.
These practices are fairly standard, though bilateral negotiations vary greatly and multilateral ones more so. The parties have common interests to negotiate over and areas of disagreement to negotiate about. There are two basic approaches: tackling issues piece by piece and establishing a framework of agreed principles at the outset. The latter works well, but, if it cannot be done, the piecemeal approach is necessary.
In most negotiations initial demands far exceed expectations; concessions are as small and as slow as possible, for early concession indicates eagerness and engenders demands for more concessions. There is intermittent testing of the other side’s firmness and will for an agreement. There may be indirection, lulling of the other party, and bluffing to gain an edge, though it is important for diplomats not to be caught bluffing. Lying in diplomatic negotiations is considered a mistake, but stretching or abridging the truth is permissible. Coercive diplomacy involving the threat of force is risky but cheaper than war; other coercive pressures may include the setting of conditions for concessions, such as debt rescheduling. Compensations to sweeten the offer, warnings, and threats speed agreement if well timed, as do deadlines, whether agreed, imposed by external events, or contained in ultimatums.
If a negotiation succeeds, the result is embodied in an international instrument, of which there are several types. The most solemn is a treaty, a written agreement between states that is binding on the parties under international law and analogous to a contract in civil law. Treaties are registered at the UN and may be bilateral or multilateral; international organizations also conclude treaties both with individual states and with each other.
A convention is a multilateral instrument of a lawmaking, codifying, or regulatory nature. Conventions are usually negotiated under the auspices of international entities or a conference of states. The UN and its agencies negotiate many conventions, as does the Council of Europe. Treaties and conventions require ratification, an executive act of final approval. In democratic countries parliamentary approval is deemed advisable for important treaties. In the United States the Senate must consent by a two-thirds vote. Elsewhere, legislative involvement is less drastic but has increased since World War II. In Britain treaties lie on the table of the House of Commons for 21 days before ratification; other countries have similar requirements. For bilateral treaties ratifications are exchanged; otherwise, they are deposited in a place named in the text, and the treaty takes effect when the specified number of ratifications have been received.
Agreements are usually bilateral, not multilateral. Less formal and permanent than treaties, they deal with narrow, often technical topics. They are negotiated between governments or government departments, though sometimes nongovernmental entities are involved, as banks are in debt-rescheduling agreements. The United States has long used executive agreements to preserve secrecy and circumvent the ratification process.
A protocol prolongs, amends, supplements, or supersedes an existing instrument. It may contain details pertaining to the application of an agreement, an optional arrangement extending an obligatory convention, or a technical instrument as an annex to a general agreement. It may substitute for an agreement or an exchange of notes, which can be used to record a bilateral agreement or its modification.
High Commissions are diplomatic missions sent to Commonwealth countries. The “head of mission” at an embassy is called an Ambassadors. At a High Commission, the head of mission is called a High Commissioner.
diplomatic mission. Quick Reference. A body composed of government officers representing the interests and welfare of their state who have been posted abroad (by the sending state) and operate within the jurisdiction of another state (the receiving state).
Sep 23, 2024 · diplomacy, the established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or violence. Modern diplomatic practices are a product of the post- Renaissance European state system.
Mission – A diplomatic representation to an international organization. Mission also refers to an embassy or a consulate. Ambassador – The lead official representative to a foreign country.
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Gain insights on international relations by understanding the five distinct types of diplomatic missions. These important entities are charged with representing countries abroad, ensuring their protection, and promoting their interests.
