Trends in Diplomatic Signalling

Abstract

Diplomacy is essentially a system of communication between governments, and classic diplomacy rested almost entirely on linguistic skills. A carefully deliberated diplomatic language evolved, which allowed cross-cultural communication with a minimum of unnecessary misunderstanding. In addition, diplomatic ‘body language’ was governed by protocol to limit the leakage of non-verbal information. In short, the classic diplomatic dialogue can be seen as a system of signals, based on a code shared by the members of the profession. In a rapidly changing world, signalling remains a crucial aspect of diplomacy, about as essential to it as to a busy airport.¹ One crucial difference is that there is much more scope for ambiguity in diplomatic signalling. Ambiguous signalling between pilots and traffic controllers may be a prelude to disaster, but in diplomatic communication ambiguity is considered constructive and creative.²