DIPLOMATIC COMMUNICATION 

2  Winston Churchill
“Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”

3  HISTORY OF DIPLOMACY Definition:

Diplomacy is the application of intelligence and tact to the conduct of official relations between the governm
of independent states, extending sometimes also to their relations with dependent territories, betw
government and independent institutions.
The conduct of business between states by peaceful means

4   Diplomacy: the best means devised by civilization for preventing international relations from b
governed by force alone
The field in which it operates: between power politics and civilized usage
The practice goes back to the civilization of Mesopotamia and the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East

5  The first diplomatic document: a copy of a letter inscribed on a cuneiform tablet sent around 2500 BC f
the Kingdom of Ebla to the Kingdom of Amazi about 600 miles away
The Amarna letters discovered in Egypt show us a world of quite advanced political interaction among the St
of the Near East in the 14th century BC

6  The means to transmit the message: messengers or merchant caravans

Diplomatic immunity was reduced to the standards of hospitality of the period
Greek city states 4th and 5th centuries: a new and more sophisticated diplomacy
The city states dispatched and received special embassies with due accreditation, who presented their c
sometimes accompanied by a declaration of war, openly before the rulers or assemblies to whom they were s

7  432 BC the Conference of Sparta – can be considered the first account of a diplomatic conference
The Conference was called by the Spartans in order to decide whether or not to go to war with Athens
However what really ruled at that time was:
“the strong do what they can and the week suffer what they must”

8  Their behaviour: brutal and oppressive 

The Roman contribution – characteristic of a people who produced rulers and administrators rather
diplomats, who preferred organization to negotiation, and who sought to impose a universal respect for
own system of law
Their behaviour: brutal and oppressive
The Byzantine emperors earned the machinery of diplomatic intercourse a reputation for complexity
deviousness
The diplomatic ceremonial was complex
They applied the concept of divide and rule

9   They transformed the traditional role of the envoy from a herald to the beginnings of the role of
modern diplomat, a trained observer and negotiator attempting to interpret what he saw for his master an
negotiate an accord
The Venetians learned much from the Byzantine example
 10  RENAISSANCE DIPLOMACY
In the Middle Ages there was rarely concord between the Pope and the Emperor
Credentials of some kind were needed if an ambassador was to be received by someone regarding himse
holding sovereign power
15th century Italy – the practice of residential diplomacy – the most important innovation in diplomatic prac
came to be commonly accepted

11  During the Italian Wars (1494-1559) the practice spread around Europe
During the Italian Wars ( ) the practice spread around Europe. The Italian princes and popes needed g
intelligence on what was being planned in terms of their own future in the capitals: Paris, Madrid, Vienna
In the developing nation states, shifting alliances, and the dynastic struggles for power the resident diplom
agent was invaluable in keeping his master supplied with information

12  Alberico Gentili (Professor of Civil Law at Oxford) who found refuge in Queen Elisabeth’s England , w
the earliest major work on diplomacy law:
The inviolability of the ambassadors and the establishment
Conduct of diplomatic missions
It was common to accept ambassadors from states considered infidels or heretics: England had already ha
embassy to the Ottoman sultan together with Venice and France

13  The relations between Catholics and Protestants prevented civilized intercourse, which was essenti
diplomacy, for a period of 100 years
During this period “the end justifying the means” took precedence over morality, e.g. the French preferre
work with the Ottoman Turks at the expense of the Christian Habsburgs.

14  Another cynical behaviour; Cardinal Richelieu of France saw his country’s interests as better serve
siding with the Protestants in the Thirty Years War ( ) than allowing the Holy Roman Empire to extend its bor
further and so weaken Louis XIII’s France
Thus Richelieu provided an early example of balance of power politics

15  THE ORIGINS OF MODERN DIPLOMACY

The Treaty of Westphalia established a new order of relationships. It is now that the age of classical Europ
diplomacy is said to have begun
Abraham de Wicquefort wrote L’Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions in prison and published it in French in 1681
He identified “the resident ambassador as the principal institutional device for the conduct of foreign affairs”
his work provides “an actualized concept of the seventeenth century European states-system at the time o
Congress of Westphalia”

16  In this period diplomacy was conducted by members of the ruling class who had more in common
each other across land and sea frontiers, than with the majority of their own people
This elitism helped to foster the cohesion of the diplomatic corps
It proceeded according to well-defined rules and civilized conventions

17   The system was flexible and personal, and its style was clear enough for all who took part in
understand not only what was explicitly stated but what was to be taken for granted
An important contribution to writing on relations between States came from a Swiss lawyer, Emmerich de V
who discussed the application of natural law to international relations in his treatise “Le Droit de Gens” 1758
 18  This treatise influenced the authors of the American Constitution, particularly by its focus on liberty
equality, but also by its defence of neutrality
Vattel sustained the right of maintaining the embassies so that, “ each Nation possesses both the righ
negotiate and have intercourse with others, and the reciprocal obligation to lend itself to such intercourse” –
reflected the spirit of the age: embassies were an essential element in the functioning of international society

19  The Congress of Vienna

codified more concretely the new world of diplomacy
Established an agreed basis for diplomatic representation
Effected the recognition of diplomatic services as a distinct profession within the public service governed b
own internationally accepted codes

20   The settlement of the congress was remarkable in rebuilding an international order broken by
Napoleonic wars
Europe enjoyed its longest sustained period of peace with the exception of the Crimean War
It constructed a balance of power that ensured that the threat from French expansionism was contained in
which was not sufficiently punitive to lead to France nursing a grievance

21   The countries formed a kind of proto-European government for the period of the Crimean War
France was rapidly admitted
The Concert of Europe was the name of the Great Power system of consensus
It survived as a concept through the 19th century and was invoked by Gladstone in 1879 as a principle t
maintained. He said in speech “Because keeping all in union together you neutralize and fetter and bind up
selfish aims of each”

22   In post-revolutionary Europe there appeared new objectives: acceptance of established monarc

order gave way to constitutional methods
From now on diplomacy should be exercised in the interests, not of a dynasty, not even of aristocracy, but o
nation as a whole
This arose from statesmen’s realization of the importance of public opinion
Two British statesmen Canning and Palmerstone, thought this a positive rather than a negative development

23  But as we see through the history, public opinion failed to prevent the two World Wars, Vietnam, Iraq
the case of the latter two it played a role in bringing the wars to an end
The First World War brought to an end the Concert of Europe
The system of bipolar military alliances exposed Europe to the risk that a single incident could prompt a c
reaction leading to a general war

24  The system of alliances and the excessive weight given to military planning undermined any chance
diplomacy might head off what came to be seen as an almost inevitable clash
The new diplomacy was determined by the openness born of faster communications, increasing power o
press, and a shift in the balance of forces in the democracies from the ruling elites to the governed

25   The new conviction; it was time for diplomacy to be made more open and more accessible to p
scrutiny and appraisal
It was natural that electorates claiming to control governments should require to know what agreements w
being made in their name and to exercise the constitutional right of accepting or rejecting them
 26   Until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, new and old diplom
coexisted.
East and West were grouped in 2 mutually antagonistic alliances
The West attempted to deal with the Soviet Empire and Communist China by a policy of containment which la
40 years

27   Henry Kissinger added a new word to the diplomatic lexicon in being an early proponent of sh
diplomacy, (activity in which a person travels back and forth between two countries and talks to their leade
order to bring about agreement, prevent war) whereby the intermediary in a conflict shuttles backwards
forwards repeatedly between the parties in conflict or in dispute to secure the desired result
It is not guaranteed to succeed as in the war between Argentina and Britain during the Falklands War in 1982
Kissinger succeeded in Yom Kippur War 1973

28  Multilateral Diplomacy
It has roots in antiquity: in attempts to stop the feuding and warfare, the principal Powers in the Eas
Mediterranean (Greek States and Persia) “agreed to convene great political congresses… to discuss gen
settlement of outstanding issues” (Watson, Diplomacy: The Dialogue between States)
It involved 8 congresses between 392 and 367 BC

29  In modern times, large-scale conferences took place in the 18th and 19th centuries
In the 20th century, the Versailles Conference set a precedent
Advantages: efficiency and speed of decision making
A conference - the best forum for decision making and reaching agreements where it has a deadline, is sub
specific and/or technical details are involved and national experts assembled in one place
This was valuable for Arab- Israeli bilateral talks by the Geneva Conference of December 1973 and by the Ma
Conference in October 1991

30  Both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy are carried out at the highest, that is at summit level
Summit – first used in this way by Churchill in 1950
Definition (Dunn) meetings between those who, by virtue of their position are not able to be contradicted by
other individual

31  In Middle Ages most diplomacy was carried out at this level, often by kings and princes of neighbou
States
When the practice of resident diplomats became established in the 16th century, summitry went into rel
decline
The practice enjoyed a renaissance in the 19th century
The speed of international travel highly developed this practice in the last 30 years

32  The practice is now widespread

Serial summit: European Council, G7/8, Arab League, Commonwealth Heads of Government, Franco-Ger
Summits
Ad hoc summits set up to deal with crisis or break the ice between states whose relations have been poor or
existent
Prime examples:
Paris 1971 Heath and Pompidou meeting leading to Britain’s entry into EEC
Beijing 1972 Nixon’s meeting with Mao
 33  High level exchange of views –is the least ambitious type of summitry, is extensively used particular
leaders taking a tour of a region
They may hope to get to know their opposite number and may be able to advance some issues which have b
blocked

34  Diplomacy – is the conduct or execution of foreign policy

Foreign policy – is formulated by the government
In order to carry out its policy, a government manages its international relations by applying not only persua
but also different forms of pressure
Hard power is in fact the real power that exercises the pressure. It can rest on inducements or thr
Sometimes it can get the outcomes without threats or payoffs. This is the indirect way called the second fac
power

35  The power must be real, but the government might prefer to keep it in reserve
In normal circumstances the government conducts its international intercourse by negotiating – soft power

36  The diplomat
Is so called because diplomas are official documents emanating from princes
Diploma:
Comes from the Greek word meaning to double from the way in which the diplomas were fold
A document by which a privilege is conferred: a state paper, official document, a charter
The earliest use in England was in 1645 – it was a collection of treaties and other official documents

37  In these titles the word diplomaticus is applied to a body of original state papers but as the subject m
of these collections was international relations, the word has been treated as having to do with internat
relations.
Hence the application to the officials connected with these matters
Diplomatic body signifies the body of ambassadors, envoys and officials attached to the foreign missions res
at any seat of government

38   Diplomatic service – the branch of the public service which supplies the personnel of the perma
missions in foreign countries
In England the earliest example appears in the Annual Register for 1787
1797 – diplomacy meant skill or address in the conduct of international intercourse and negotiations

39  Verbal and non-verbal communication

Social communication, including diplomatic communication, involves the transmission of messages to w
certain meanings are attached. These messages can be either verbal or nonverbal. Just as the verbal compon
in a normal person-to-person conversation have been estimated to carry little more than a third of the s
meaning (Johnson, 1974: 74), so nonverbal messages or “body language” constitute important aspect
diplomatic communication

40   Diplomatic “body language” encompasses everything from personal gestures to the manipulatio
military forces. A handshake, for example, is commonly used as a metaphor for the quality of inter-state relat
transferring the language of personal relations to the international arena. The venue and format of meeting
well as the shape of the negotiating table (symbolizing prestige and power) and the level of delegations (sign
interests and intentions of the parties) are other aspects that can be used for subtle “body language” (cf Co
 41  Nonverbal communication has certain advantages
Nonverbal communication has certain advantages. It is often better able to capture the attention and intere
various audiences than is verbal communication
In diplomatic communication “saying is doing” and “doing is saying.”
Activity or inactivity, words or silence, all have message value: they influence others and these others, in t
cannot not respond to these communications and are thus themselves communicating”

42   Today we commonly associate diplomacy with linguistic skills, a carefully calibrated language allo
cross-cultural communication with a minimum of unnecessary misunderstanding, along with protocol gover
interstate “body language.” Similarly, the management of verbal as well as nonverbal aspects of communica
has characterized variants of diplomacy throughout history 

43  A contemporary example may illustrate the enduring symbolic significance of the selection of envoys
selection of Averell Harriman to lead the U.S. negotiating team in the test ban talks in Moscow in the summ
1963 was one in a series of conciliatory signals on both sides. Harriman was well known to the Soviets and
become well acquainted with Khrushchev during the Soviet leader’s visit to the United States in In the word
one official from the Soviet embassy in Washington: “As soon as I heard that Harriman was going, I knew that
were serious” (Seaborg, 1981: 252 

44   The sense of protocol that we associate with classic diplomacy, dating back to Renaissance Ita
prevalent in the Amarna Letters as well. The address and greeting phrases of the tablets constituted sym
expressions of status. Only if the sender was superior or equal to the addressee did he name himself
Deviations were noted and given sinister interpretations, as in this exchange (see Jönsson, 2000: 195):
“And now, as to the tablet that you sent me, why did you put your name over my name? And who now is the
who upsets the good relations between us, and is such conduct the accepted practice? My brother, did you w
to me with peace in mind? And if you are my brother, why have you exalted your name…”
In the diplomacy of the Roman Empire, protocol seems to have developed only among equals or near eq
Whereas sophisticate rules of protocol developed between the Roman and Persian Empires, Rome’s diplom
relations with the “northern barbarians” seem to have involved no protocol

45  Language and Diplomacy

Language is used to express the subtle needs of the diplomatic profession
Language in diplomacy can also mean the particular form, style, manner or tone of expression
Language may also mean the verbal or non-verbal expression of thoughts or feelings
All these meanings can be used both in oral and written practice

46   From the point of view of diplomatic communication , language is not a simple tool, or instrume
communication, but the very essence of diplomatic vocation
This is the reason why from early times the legates, consuls, and later on ambassadors had to be educated
well-trained people, well-spoken and polyglots

47  there has always been a tendency toward developing a lingua franca of diplomacy.
Sumerian, the first known linguistic medium of culture and civilization in the Tigris–Euphrates valley, ma
considered the “earliest language of diplomatic intercourse and expression.”
From the third millennium BC Akkadian, a rather peripheral Semitic language, became the recognized diplom
language – it used cuneiform writing
When Akkadian ceased to exist as a living language, it was superseded by Aramaic as the leading diplom
language
The great advantage of Aramaic was that, by the tenth-century BC, it had adopted the best writing techn
hitherto known to mankind – the alphabet
 48  The choice between Greek and Latin became an issue in Byzantine diplomacy. By the end of the
century, Constantinople abandoned Latin and used only Greek as the language of diplomacy, whereas
dominated in Rome. Without skillful translation, mutual incomprehension, misunderstanding could occur
As the written language of not only the Roman Empire but also of its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, an
the Roman Catholic Church, Latin eventually became the natural language of European diplomacy. Most tre
were written in Latin, and Latin was used in conversations between diplomats

49   By 1600, command of conversational Latin began to be rare among European diplomats,

negotiations through interpreters became common. No other common language of diplomacy arose unti
eighteenth century, when French became the language of the European nobility and, by implication,
diplomatic language
There were efforts in the nineteenth century to make English a rival.
For instance, in 1800 Lord Grenville conducted his relations with foreign diplomats accredited to the Court o
James in English instead of French. British Foreign Secretary George Canning in 1826 instructed his diploma
use English in official international relations. And Lord Palmerstone in 1851 insisted that every country
entitled to use its own language in official communications
Only after the First World War did English emerge as one of two languages of diplomacy.

50   Multilateral diplomacy has added to the linguistic problems; “unilateralism in diplomatic language
thing of the past.” Yet it has also generated creative solutions. For instance, a constructive distinction betw
working languages and official languages was introduced at the 1945 San Francisco Conference. Then Eng
Russian, Chinese, French and Spanish were granted the status of official languages of the conference, whe
only English and French were accepted as working languages. 

51  Sometimes linguistic variety can be an asset rather than a liability.

When the Ukrainian leader Leonid Kuchma appeared uninvited at the NATO summit in Prague in November 2
he created an acute diplomatic crisis. If he were to be placed in alphabetical order following the English spellin
participating countries, the controversial Kuchma, who was suspected of providing Iraq with radar equipm
would sit next to US President George W. Bush and UK Premier Tony Blair.
The embarrassing situation was solved by changing to French, whereby USA became Etats Unis, United King
Royaume Uni, and Kuchma ended up between the Turkish president and EU High Commissioner Javier Solana

52  the institutionalization of diplomacy has involved the development of a common language with ritua
phrases, which have allowed cross-cultural communication with a minimum of unnecessary misunderstandin
The diplomatic dialogue, therefore, is based on a code that is shared by members of the diplomatic communi
Courtesy, nonredundancy and constructive ambiguity are prominent features of diplomatic language

53  Gathering information
Diplomacy is involved both in the formulation of a polity’s external policy and in its execution.
Policy formulation requires the gathering and assessment of information about the external environment. T
the introduction of resident ambassadors – one of the most important innovations of Renaissance diploma
flowed from the growing need not only to send messages but to gather information about neighbors am
Italian city-states
Ever since information gathering has come to be regarded as a basic function of modern diplomacy, expl
listed in the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations of 1961

54  While often associated with the emergence of permanent embassies, information gathering has bee
The Amarna Letters have several references to Egypt’s need for intelligence to maintain control of its A
empire. Two out of the three letters sent from the Pharaoh to another Great King refer to intelligence matters
There is reason to believe that the messengers, who carried written and oral communication between the
courts, supplemented the official information they received with their own sources of intelligence

55  Byzantine diplomacy is the best-known historical example of intelligence taking center stage. The Em
was poorly equipped for, and thus wanted to avoid, war. Therefore, the Byzantine considered informa
gathering crucial and saw it as the chief purpose of all diplomatic exchanges.
The deeply ingrained expectation that intelligence must be any visitor’s intention explains the care with w
foreigners were watched, confined and guarded in Constantinople

56  Today intelligence has become a separate institution with “no more than tacit international recognitio
Diplomacy and intelligence are competing as well as complementary institutions. Several states, such as
United States and Britain, spend more on intelligence than on diplomacy.
Especially during the Cold War, embassies often provided cover for intelligence officers

57   diplomats during most of history had a virtual monopoly on the supply of information from for
polities
today they face competition not only from the intelligence community but also from the media.
Not only does most of the information reaching governments about developments throughout the world c
from the media, but a large portion of diplomatic reporting consists of analyses based on the work of journali

58   The 24-hour news reporting of today’s global electronic media tends to make diplomatic rep
redundant. The common counterargument is that the information available via various media, including Inte
will remain significant complements to, but no substitute for, information gathered through diplomatic chann
Diplomats have always cultivated private sources as a supplement to official sources.

59  Among such sources of information, in fact, are other diplomats.

The principle of reciprocity applies to the exchange of information as well; “communication among diplomats
two-way street: one cannot expect to obtain information unless one is able and willing to convey informat
(says K Gruber speaking about the modern ambassador)

60  If diplomatic information-gathering is designed to provide principals with the necessary background
the formulation of external policies, diplomatic communication to other polities is an important part of
execution of these policies. This communication has verbal as well as nonverbal elements, and is often refe
to as diplomatic signaling.
Signaling is as essential to diplomacy as to a busy airport. One crucial difference is that there is much more s
for ambiguity in diplomatic signaling. Ambiguous signaling between pilots and traffic controllers may be a pre
to disaster, but in diplomatic communication ambiguity is considered constructive and creative

61   The possibility of duplicity and deception contributes to the ambiguity of diplomatic signals.
characterization of a diplomat as “an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country” has gained notoriety. In
the association of diplomacy with deception can be traced back to Ancient Greece. The Greeks identified Her
with charm, trickery, cunning, and deception and subsequently transferred those traits to envoys; ever since
have continued to be associated with diplomacy.
The fact that there is no way of knowing for sure which signals are false and which are true makes f
diplomatic penchant (habit) for mistrusting messages and always “reading between the lines.” Yet there
should the deception fail. “The fact that states send and pay attention to signals indicates that statesmen feel
are more apt to give true than false information”

62   While needing to communicate, polities want to conceal vital information from each other. Moreo
ambiguity may be a deliberate means to retain flexibility and make signals disclaimable. Ambiguous signals a
the sender to argue “I never said that,” “this is not what I meant” and the like, if the situation calls for it
The perennial art of sending different signals to different audiences, which flourished during nineteenth-cen
secret diplomacy, has become more difficult in the modern era of mass media.

63  Diplomats, therefore, have to be content with saying both less and more than they mean: less, bec
their verbal and nonverbal signaling will never immediately convey their meaning; more, because their sign
will always convey messages and involve them in consequences other than those intended. The interpretatio
signals, in other words, includes both “selective” and “constructive” elements. 

64  Negotiation
Negotiation is commonly seen as the core of diplomacy, as “the ultimate form of diplomatic communication.”
several authors define diplomacy in terms of negotiations:
Adam Watson characterizes diplomacy as “negotiations between political entities which acknowledge each ot
independence.”
G.R. Berridge’s elaborate definition is “the conduct of international relations by negotiation rather than by fo
propaganda, or recourse to law, and by other peaceful means (such as gathering information or engende
goodwill) which are either directly or indirectly designed to promote negotiation”

65   Throughout history diplomatic negotiations have been predominantly bilateral encounters. Yet t
party intervention, in the form of arbitration or mediation, has taken place throughout the ages.
In the Ancient Near East the great kings had the right to adjudicate in disputes between their vassals. Media
was customary in Ancient China, with princes or ministers as mediators, either at request or on their
initiative.
Mediation between polities reflected a practice deeply embedded within Chinese life, enabling crowded soci
to continue in peaceful coexistence.
Third-party arbitration was well established among the Ancient Greek city-states as a preferred practic
regulate conflict and facilitate coexistence both internally and externally

66  Mediation and the offer of good offices were prevalent in medieval Europe as well, particularly from
twelfth century onward. The Pope was the principal mediator between Christian princes, but a variet
influential individuals, including princes and emperors, acted as arbitrators and mediators .
In modern times, mediating roles are assumed not only by diplomats and other representatives of governm
but also by representatives of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations as well as pr
individuals, such as businessman Armand Hammer in US–Soviet relations during the Cold War and ex-presi
Jimmy Carter in several Third World conflicts more recently.

67  Multilateral diplomatic negotiations, on the other hand, are a relatively recent phenomenon. The ear
multilateral fora were high-level congresses called to arrange the terms of peace settlements, such as
Congresses of Osnabrück and Münster resulting in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Diplomatic conferences, peacetime meetings of diplomats, were unknown before 1830 but have since
surged in frequency, significance and complexity. In the middle of the nineteenth century there were about t
international conferences annually, today more than three thousand
important functions.
One technique that has been identified as particularly helpful in diplomatic conferences is the use of a “s
negotiation text”.
After listening to the stated positions of all the parties, one participant, in a mediator or leadership role (m
often the chairperson), drafts a text, which is then circulated for criticism, modifications and refinem
Successive rounds of redrafting and feedback may eventually produce an agreed document, as in the C
David negotiations in 1978 and the Law of the Sea negotiations

69  Verbal and nonverbal communication

A handshake, for example, is commonly used as a metaphor for the friendly quality of interstate relat
transferring the language of personal relations to the international arena. The origin of the symbolic hands
may have been a precautionary measure to show that the hand did not carry a weapon

70  The venue and format of meetings as well as the shape of the negotiating table (symbolizing prestige
power) and the level of representation (signaling interests and intentions of the parties) are other aspects
can be used for subtle “body language.” In the 1930s Neville Chamberlain conceded to Mussolini’s insistence
negotiations between Britain and Italy be held in Rome, with Anthony Eden and the Foreign Office disagreein
the grounds that this “would be regarded as another surrender to the dictators.” 

71  Behind the controversy over the shape of the table at the Paris negotiations to end the Vietnam War
the question of the status of the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front: to seat it at a four-sided table
representatives of the United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam would have accorded it equal st
More recently, the six party talks, prompted by North Korea’s admission in 2002 of having developed nu
weapons and subsequent withdrawal from the Non- Proliferation Treaty, are being conducted aroun
hexagonal table, which avoids any connotation of precedence or unequal status 

72  The Swedish government was criticized by the domestic opposition for conveying the wrong signa
dispatching a lower-rank minister to the ceremony honoring the victims of the terrorist attack in Madrid in M
2004, when most other European states were represented at a higher level 

73  The exchange of gifts stands out as a prominent form of diplomatic “body language” in early diplom
The principle of giving and taking lies deep in human nature, and gifts were exchanged to create goodwill
peaceful relations. Thus, messengers in the Ancient Near East not only carried oral and written communicat
between royal courts, but also distributed presents among the rulers. Gifts were symbols of the status of,
relations between, rulers
In the Roman world, “to accept gifts was to accept a diplomatic approach and open the way for further cont
In Byzantine diplomacy the exchange of gifts played a particularly prominent role.
Diplomatic gifts were meant to buy friendship and ranged from sumptuous items like elephants, gilded beds
organs to consumer goods
The ancient tradition of envoys bringing presents for the foreign ruler was upheld even in the worst momen
Byzantine decline.
While no longer accredited the same significance, the exchange of gifts remains a ritual component of state v
to this day

74   The Greek city-states developed a nomenclature of diplomatic ranks, which could be used to
nonverbal messages. Thus, to send envoys whose credentials bore the title of autocrator, or plenipotentiary,
a mark of respect to the receiving polis, and the presence of heralds, in exchanges between city-states w
virtual acknowledgment that war existed even if it had not been declared
The selection of Averell Harriman to lead the US negotiating team in the test ban talks in Moscow in the sum
of 1963 was one in a series of conciliatory signals on both sides. Harriman was well known to the Soviets and
become well acquainted with Khrushchev during the Soviet leader’s visit to the United States in In the word
 75  Technological development
Diplomacy has been influenced by the development of available means of communication and transporta
Most importantly, the speed of diplomatic communication has varied greatly over time:
In the Ancient Near East, diplomatic missions could take years to complete. In the Amarna Letters the
reference to a messenger being detained, and thus bilateral communication being interrupted, for six years.
In the sixteenth century it took four months for a Hapsburg diplomat to travel to Moscow, and in the sevente
century it took eleven days to send a courier from Paris to Madrid.
The well-known expression that Napoleon did not travel faster than Caesar is not merely a figure of speech
reflects the reality that even in the eighteenth century the Ancient Roman roads remained the
communication routes on land and transport was dependent on the physical capacity of animals and human
carry and pull.

76  It was only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that technological revolutions changed the prem
of diplomatic communication. In the nineteenth century the advent of steamships and railways increased
mobility of diplomats significantly, at the same time as the invention of the telegraph permitted fast and d
communication between governments as well as between foreign ministries and embassies.
The development of air travel and information technology (IT) in the twentieth century added to the ease
speed of movement and communication

77  While facilitating the exchange of diplomatic communication, these technological innovations have b
seen as challenges to ingrained diplomatic procedures. For instance, when the first telegram arrived on the
of British foreign minister Lord Palmerston in the 1840s, he exclaimed: “My God, this is the end of diplomacy.”
Similarly, the Royal Commission of 1861, which investigated the British Diplomatic Service, dwelt on the influ
of the telegraph on diplomacy and wondered whether it would make ambassadors unnecessary.
The dramatic development of today’s media and IT has elicited similar concerns.

78  One of the obvious effects of the IT revolution is that diplomacy has lost its position as the main facili
of contacts and communication across state boundaries
Summitry, international meetings at the highest levels of government involving direct communication betw
political leaders, became an established component of interstate relations after the Second World War
Summitry has been consistently resented by diplomats who prefer their own professional dialogue to
amateurism of politicians. In the fifteenth century Philippe de Comines advised: “Two great Princes, who wis
establish good personal relations should never meet each other face to face, but ought to communicate thro
good and wise ambassadors.”
Five centuries later, former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk cautioned that “summit diplomacy is to
approached with the wariness with which a prudent physician prescribes a habit-forming drug – a techniqu
be employed rarely and under the most exceptional circumstances with rigorous safeguards against it becom
a debilitating or dangerous habit.”

79   The agenda of national leaders is increasingly crowded with engagements abroad, and their abs
from the domestic political scene is often criticized and entails certain political risks. In addition, sum
proliferation imposes a burden on scarce diplomatic resources. The preparation and diplomatic follow-u
summits require a lot of effort from foreign ministries. Perhaps most importantly, the economic costs of sum
have skyrocketed, primarily because of the expensive security measures that nowadays surround meetings a
highest level.
The G-8 meeting in Genoa in 2001, for example, cost 19 million US dollars, plus 90 million dollars
improvements of the city
 80   In addition to depriving diplomats of their privileged role in communicating across state borders
facilitating direct communication among political leaders, the dramatic increases in the speed of communica
affect diplomacy in other ways as well. It often forces decision makers to react instantaneously to internat
events, bypassing traditional diplomatic channels. In the age of abundant and instant information combined
intrusive media, the moderate tempo of traditional diplomatic communication, which allowed for ca
deliberations of signaling strategy and interpretation, seems irrevocably lost.
In the words of an experienced diplomat, “the information revolution has compressed the time and dist
which once separated one’s own country and others in all parts of the globe.”

81  For example, President Kennedy in 1961 could wait eight days before making a public policy statemen
the erection of the Berlin Wall. By contrast, President Bush was compelled to make a statement within hou
the dismounting of the wall in October 1989.
Strobe Talbott, then Deputy Secretary of State, recounts how he was in telephone contact with his Rus
counterpart Georgi Mamedov on 4 October 1993, when the showdown took place in Moscow between B
Yeltsin and his opponents, holed up in the parliamentary building. Talbott and Mamedov both had their telev
sets tuned to CNN, which broadcast the dramatic storming of the building, and exchanged occas
impressions as the battle unfolded.169 Here representatives of two states that only a few years earlier had b
bitter rivals were able to watch an event unfold in real time as they discussed its implications over an open ph
line.

82  television and other new media have a significant effect on diplomacy

television and other new media have a significant effect on diplomacy. In the television age, the significanc
nonverbal signaling and body language is enhanced. At the same time, signaling via the TV screen does not a
by old conventions of diplomatic protocol. Rather, contemporary diplomacy can be analyzed and understoo
terms of a theater metaphor.
Just as in the theater, diplomatic signaling takes place within a setting contrived for that purpose; in
performance actors manipulate gestures, movement and speech to conjure up a desirable impression f
watching audience; statesmen and diplomats assume the role of producer or stage manager, molding the
performance. Television amplifies the visual aspects of the diplomatic drama. As an ideal medium for conve
nonverbal messages, television therefore accentuates the symbolic aspects of diplomatic signaling.

83  There are different aspects of diplomatic language in its basic meaning

Rarely diplomats can use the same language, common to all participants: Germans and Austrians, Portug
and Brazilians, British and American
For people who speak different mother tongues there are interpreters or the use of lingua franca

84  Diplomatic talk has the role to communicate political differences in a positive way in order to smooth
differences
Political press conferences are very interesting from the point of view of language use to negotiate ideologie
show how power relations are asserted, how political differences on difficult issues are discussed
communicated in a positive way

85  Because of media, politicians have been transformed in media personalities

Thus the public began to learn about what kind of people their leaders were and how they dealt with o
countries
Political leaders become public figures and celebrities

86  Four major sequences in a political press conference

The participant hosting the event begins the press conference by welcoming the guest politician, and saying
successful their meeting was
The number of meetings both politicians have had previously is recounted

87  2. the individual voices

“individual statements” by the politicians are made – they include different issues or topics
3. the interactional sequence
After it no other statements are given by either of the politicians except in the form of answer to question
journalists
4. the closing sequence
It is as brief as the introduction and ends with the host politician thanking the audience

88  Political press conferences in terms of content can be as clichéd as they are dynamic
It is repetitive and formulaic
The speeches are prepared after many round-table discussions and debates
The content and the structure is institutionally organized
The objective is fixed: to project a diplomatic front – that’s why the goals of the press conference is not negoti
The procedures are mechanical
The speakers often make sub-textual rather than literal meanings

89  There are three main themes which illustrate the specific strategies:
1. positivity – it is used throughout the political press conferences in an effort to depict diplomacy, congruity
mutuality between two diametrically opposed countries
2. influence and power – the speakers utilize in order to predetermine one another’s future behaviour. Influ
is noticeable in the second sequence where individual statements are made

90  3. evasion – emerges primarily in the third sequence: questions and answers. Politicians cannot pre
in advance, they resort to ambiguous answers to avoid saying anything to cause a controversy in the media. 

91  POSITIVITY Positivity embodies four principal strategies:

1. to achieve common ground, or mutual understanding between two ideological opposites;
2. to express praise and politically-motivated appreciation;
3. to propose a promising future relationship; and
4. to express differences diplomatically, to ‘cushion the blow’.

92  1. Search for common ground

It is rare that in any political press conference the politicians will directly acknowledge a disagreement, o
antagonistic relationship. Even when negative perceptions are part of common knowledge, attempts are alw
made to minimize such perceptions.

93   This is particularly true in the press conferences between Jiang Zemin and Bush. Both countries
struggling opposites, trying to find common ground, but have for many years been unable to do so in
significant manner.
China and United States have more rather than less shared interests, and more rather than less com
responsibility for world peace. The importance of the relationship has increased rather than decreased. (J
Zemin, )
In the statement above there is no clear acknowledgement of whether or not an actual relationship even e
between the two countries. There are a couple of sentences implying the responsibility the two countries sh
the juxtaposition of opposites, such as more rather than less shared interests, and more rather than
common responsibility for world peace, and increased rather than decreased to emphasize the positive elem

94  The discourse of manipulation is also evident when the two leaders pre-assume one another’s behav
There seem to be two functions of the solidarity expression we:
We have agreed that under the current complex and volatile international situations, China and the United St
both with significant influence in the world, should step up dialogue We have agreed to intensify high-
strategic dialogue We have agreed to vigorously carry out bilateral exchanges. (Jiang Zemin, )
Here the use of personal pronoun we, made cohesively specific in the text, not only presents a joint front to
public and media, but at the same time it is also a way of preventing the other speaker from acting otherw
which would cause loss of face, and would mean a denial of such social labelling

95  The pronoun we gives a positive and united image of the two intrinsically incompatible leaders.
In addition, the pronoun we here is very vague in its meaning, it could refer to the two speakers, or the spe
and the audience, or the speaker as a representative of his country. The list of three, which is a repet
linguistic feature of this genre, is intended to act as a catalyst for persuasion.
The favourite in the clichéd positivity statements is general coordinated descriptors like candid and constru
or constructive and cooperative

96  2. Expression of praise and politically motivated appreciation

Positivity is also reinforced in the ‘sweet talk’ incorporating praise, or as Mao (1994) says ‘complimen
feedback’ to consolidate one’s positive face, and politically motivated appreciation to portray a friendly pic
although this is not always possible, as political players may have their own agenda and also diffe
perspectives on international issues.

97  At another point Bush expresses the importance of China in order to gain Jiang Zemin’s support:
‘I’ve come to Shanghai because China and other Asia Pacific nations are important partners in the global coal
against terror’ (Bush, ).
These appreciations of achievements and compliments by Bush are contrast to his criticism of China a
undemocratic and anti-humanist country

98  3.prospects for constructive relationship

Positivity is also used to proposition a bright future, which the leaders will build by strengthening
relationship.
It implies that the present conference was so successful that future communication is definitely a possibility

99  4. Underplaying differences

Positivity is also used to lay out differences as gently as possible, minimizing any possible negative im
Conflict of interest refers to the disagreements between the two speakers and how these are disguised polite
prevent loss of face, or stir any feelings of antagonism in the press. Language is manipulated to achieve var
effects – deception is especially the effect that politicians subtly strive for to disguise any conflicting attitudes

100   My government hopes that China will strongly oppose the proliferation of missiles and other de
technologies. President Jiang and I agreed that the United States and China could cooperate more close
defeat HIV/AIDS. (Bush, )
In the example above, the difference of opinion on serious matters like proliferation of nuclear arms in N
Korea and Iraq is underplayed and balanced with an agreement on a more non-controversial issue of less pol
 101  Influence is exercised in the following three ways: 
INFLUENCE AND POWER
Influence is the exertion of power used to steer an adversary’s future actions in a particular direction
Influence is exercised in the following three ways:
1. By pre-determining the behaviour of the other party to ensure desired action,
2. By justifying one’s own actions and beliefs to persuade the other to act
likewise, and
3. By expressing any disagreements diplomatically

102  1. Pre-determination of behaviour 

In the present corpus, Bush and Jiang Zemin are aware of differences in each other’s agendas, and effectively
this knowledge to their advantage in the form of ‘emo-political’ blackmail, in order to influence each othe
behave in a certain manner, or rather in their individual interests. This form of influence is utilized repeated
Jiang Zemin:
I’m confident that so long as the two sides keep a firm hold of the common interests of the two count
properly handle bilateral ties, especially the question of Taiwan, in accordance with the three Sino-US
communiqués, the relations between China and the United States will continuously move forward.
(Jiang Zemin, )

103  Once again, the implication in the above extract is that Jiang Zemin is sending an indirect warnin
Bush, by placing a condition on the growth of the relationship between the two countries. As long as the US
not lose sight of their part of the deal, there is possibility of a good alliance; the adjective firm intensifying
necessity of abiding by the condition placed 

104  2. Justification of actions 

Influence is also displayed in the justification of one’s actions; this is especially true in the case of Bush, who
his power as a political leader in order to defend what he believes and how he behaves. Related to the conce
emopolitical blackmail is the discourse of morality, where an attempt is made to persuade the other speake
bringing in an element of morality.
These are evil people and the deeds that have been conducted on the American people are evil deeds.
anybody who would mail anthrax letters, trying to affect the lives of innocent people, is evil.
(Bush, )

105  3. Expression of disagreement

The third strategy through which influence and power are exercised is the discreet expression of disagreeme
a non-committal stance held by the speakers. Urges and stresses are a more direct and predominant for
influence and good indicators of the transpiring ideologies of Jiang Zemin and Bush.

106  EVASION
Evasion is control, or what Holly (1989: 122) calls ‘non-communication’ of content; it is not simply confined to w
one says (or does not say), but also how one says it. It is one of the most important tools in the hands of pol
leaders to make statements without necessarily giving any information. Press conferences are an obvious con
for the use of evasive language, as politicians often need to manage and control the type and exten
information divulged when they face the media