Diplomacy is a complex social process, the way nations conduct their relations with other nations to implement their foreign policy interests and to promote international cooperation in trade, culture, and science while avoiding violent conflict. Its tools are international dialogue and negotiation, primarily conducted by accredited envoys (diplomats or ambassadors) or other political leaders.
It is an activity shaped by history, the rise and fall of empires, the development of religions and ideologies, and the discovery or colonization of distant lands and regions. Yet it also is an amorphous, constantly changing enterprise. It is not only a tool of statecraft but also an instrument for the prevention or settlement of international disputes and a forum for the expression of common interests in a variety of international institutions and fora.
For centuries, it was an elite profession: expensive and demanding of independent means, it required exceptional breeding and education. Even as it developed into a process of negotiating between states, its image as a glamorous career was maintained by the popular media — striped-pants diplomats in elegant eveningwear, sipping fluted glasses of champagne, flirting with implausibly gorgeous women.
The contemporary form of diplomacy — as it has evolved in the past century and a half through dynastic relationships giving way to relationships reflecting the interests of entire peoples — remains rooted in that history, but it has also had to cope with the dissolution of great European empires and the rapid expansion of new nations into the global arena. It continues to change as the world changes, and it has a vital role in helping create a better future.
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