Diplomacy towards the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

The general context in which diplomacy and the functioning of foreign ministries occurs has always been subject to very particular events and circumstances. That is not just to say that their environment has undergone constant modification, though plainly it has, but also to note that the pace and style of change have had no cyclical form. Over time, modifications have been both gradual and sudden, shallow and profound, occurring in response to highly irregular sea changes in the organization and expectations of human societies. We can recognize, however, that, if not uniquely, the contemporary international environment is inducing strikingly rapid changes in the objectives of foreign relations by both states and non-state entities, in the institutions involved and among the personnel employed to pursue these objectives. How might we create a taxonomy of at least the most compelling of contemporary pressures?