Diplomatic Traditions and Protocol

Diplomacy is an ancient art, but it is just a few decades old as a discipline. The sources of
diplomacy, according to Harold Nicolson, a British diplomat and historian, "lie buried in the
darkness" of prehistory.
Modern diplomacy, on the other hand, can be traced back to Louis XIV's France and
Cardinal Richelieu. As Nicolson put it, the French scheme replaced Byzantium's and
Machiavelli's opportunistic scheming with permanent compromises aimed at "solid and
durable ties" that benefited "national interests" and were backed by "national opinion."

Effective negotiation, according to Richelieu and his disciple Francois de Callieres, is

dependent on building trust, which is dependent on avoiding lies. Callieres advocated for
diplomacy to be considered as a career, with promotions and promotion based on merit and
consistent pay.
Emerging European nation-states followed France's lead. To centralize policy, they
established ministries of foreign affairs and sent and received permanent resident
embassies to conduct negotiations with other countries.
From the eighteenth century to the twentieth century, policymaking in foreign ministries and
policy implementation by resident embassies dominated diplomatic practice.
Diplomats working in the French framework had to deal with a host of issues that are still
plaguing foreign service professionals today. Embassies were often viewed as spies' nests
and agents of subversion by receiving states. They kept diplomats physically and socially
segregated in compounds, enslaving them to endless and costly rounds of official
obligations.(Even in less aggressive receiving states, American FSOs complain that
protection requirements hold them in compounds, and reporting requirements, which are
mostly of questionable importance, keep them at their desks.) Diplomats also sparked
mistrust in their home countries, where their extended stays among foreigners left them out
of contact with domestic affairs and open to accusations of a lack of patriotism, if not
patriotism, then patriotic fervor. Diplomats who were cut off or alienated from the local
community and thrown into each other's company gossiped and pooled knowledge and
discovered they had a lot in common. Callieres coined the term "freemasonry of diplomacy"
to describe a professional bond that existed regardless of allegiance to a particular nation.

Immunity

Diplomatic immunity, which has been widely criticized, adds to the impression that diplomats
from various countries are members of the same strange guild. When private individuals, or
most officials, visit or reside in another country, they are subject to the laws and regulations
of that country. They risk being punished if they do not comply. Diplomats, on the other
hand, fly in a legal bubble until they have been identified by the sending state and approved
by the receiving state.
They are subject to the laws of the state from which they are sent, but are excluded from the
laws of the state from which they are received. Diplomatic immunity is the term used to
describe this situation. The proactive battlefield tradition of providing safe passage to envoys
proposing terms of surrender may have spawned diplomatic immunity.
The practice, when followed, minimized bloodshed on both sides. From the Greeks onward,
adherence was sporadic. The adage "don't shoot the messenger" is proof that messengers
have been fired on occasion. The messengers—the diplomats—had to depend on their
adversaries' unpredictability. They were eager to find a more solid foundation for their safety.
As nation-states gained control throughout much of Europe in the seventeenth century, the
aristocrats and churchmen who carried out most diplomatic missions formed a theory to
justify their defense.
A diplomat, according to the theory, represents a sovereign who rules by divine right and is
separate from all other earthly forces. “Ambassadors did not simply serve the interests of
their sovereigns in medieval Europe,” writes Professor Paul Sharp. “Rather, they practically
stood for or in the position of those being represented.” 9 A diplomat who is properly
accredited must be free from detention, prosecution, taxation, and any other forms of
intimidation by the government that receives him because one sovereign cannot exert
authority over another. This theory, which later became orthodoxy, aided diplomacy,
flattering sovereigns while still protecting diplomats' lives and property.
Diplomatic immunity was established in treaty law at the Congress of Vienna, the multilateral
peace conference that ended the Napoleonic wars in 1815. The 1961 Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations codified the
rights and responsibilities of sending and receiving nations, as well as their envoys, one
hundred and fifty years apart. Almost every country on the planet has ratified these
conventions. An accredited diplomat, referred to as a "diplomatic representative" in the
conventions' language, is free from arrest or detention under the Vienna conventions.

His residence and its contents are as safe as the embassy. With a few exceptions, he
is free from criminal, civil, and administrative authority in the host country. Except for
civil and regulatory authority for actions performed beyond the scope of their duties,
administrative and technical personnel have the same immunities. Family members
enjoy immunity, which can make it difficult for partners to find work outside the
embassy.
Immunity is not a get-out-of-jail-free card or a license to violate the law. It is a right
that is counterbalanced by a responsibility. “It is the obligation of all persons
enjoying certain rights and immunities to obey the laws and regulations of the
receiving State,” according to the Vienna Convention. They also have a responsibility
not to meddle in the state's internal affairs.” 11 The sending state has complete
discretion over whether or not to waive the immunity of any of its diplomats, and the
diplomat has no part or recourse in this decision.
When a diplomat commits a crime, the sending state can waive immunity, as the
Republic of Georgia did in 1997 in Washington, D.C., when its deputy chief of mission
killed a woman in a drunk-driving incident. Often it doesn't, as when the son of
Brazil's ambassador shot a man in a bar in Washington, D.C. in 1992.

Accreditation, Rank, and Precedence

The diplomatic profession is steeped in history and tradition, as it should be. The fact that
some diplomatic activities are defined using Latin and French words attests to their early
origins. When a state prepares to send an ambassador to another, it asks for agrément, not
consent, from the receiving state. Agrément entails a secret message from the sending state to
the receiving state: “Will you recognize Smith if we call him Smith?” If the answer is no,
Smith is never identified and, as a result, is never rejected.
When the president's choice seems to be divisive in the United States today, the State
Department might pose an even more hypothetical question: "If we were to ask you if you
would consider Smith if we named him, how would you respond?" If the response is yes, a
formal request for agrément will be made.13 A receiving state acknowledges a consular
officer's right to conduct consular functions by issuing an exequatur, which is usually in the
form of an elaborate stamp or seal on the officer's consular commission.
A receiving state may declare a diplomat unwanted, or persona non grata, if it wants to get rid
of him or her (PNG). There is no need to offer a justification, but governments often use the
phrase "activities incompatible with diplomatic status," which means espionage. The basic
costs of moving an American diplomat who has been declared PNG (or "pinged") are covered
by the US government. Out-of-pocket costs are covered by some PNG plans offered by some
insurance firms.
The terms and tradition of diplomatic rank and precedence, codified in 1815 at the Congress
of Vienna and little modified since, have a similar patina of age. 14 The styles and titles used
in the United States' foreign service, as well as in foreign ministries around the world, have a
comic-opera quality to them, contributing to the common perception of the diplomat as a
snob with good table manners. Ambassadors (in most instances, extraordinary and
plenipotentiary ambassadors); charges d'affaires; ministers; ministercounselors; counselors;
first, second, or third secretaries; attaches; or assistant attaches are all examples of diplomats.
Consuls general, consuls, and vice consuls are examples of consular officials.
The nuncio, which is similar to an ambassador, is the pope's envoy to a country with
diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
The term "chargé d'affaires" refers to a non-ambassador officer in charge of an embassy; if he
is only in charge briefly, the words "ad interim" are added, making it a Franco-Latin twofer.
Diplomatic rank can be (but should not be) confused with personal rank, which specifies pay
for members of the American foreign service (see chapter 7). Counselor, minister-counselor,
and career minister are the three levels or grades in the senior foreign service. An officer with
the personal rank of counselor may be assigned to the diplomatic rank of minister-counselor,
or a career minister may be assigned to the diplomatic rank of ambassador.
A member of the foreign service may be most proud of his personal rank, but the diplomatic
rank is what matters to the rest of the world. Diplomatic rank determines where one sits at
dinner, stands in line to welcome a dignitary, and, more importantly, who one contacts in the
host government's offices. Priority is decided by seniority at post, which is determined by the
date of accreditation, for diplomats of equivalent rank. Ties are broken in the United States
by pay scale.
Precedence is an important part of social protocol, which is a mocked but mandatory
collection of written and unwritten codes of conduct for diplomats working abroad. While
American embassies and the foreign service have become less protocol-conscious over time,
they are still hierarchical institutions where rank is essential. Officers and staff always rise
when the ambassador enters a room, respond quickly and almost always positively to
invitations to events, and stay until their ambassador leaves or gives them permission to
leave.
The receiving government recognizes the diplomatic status of the sending government's
ambassador by accreditation. It is the last step in determining a diplomat's rights, immunities,
and precedence under the Vienna conventions. Accreditation is a common occurrence for
most diplomats. The sending state's embassy sends a note with names and details to the host
government's foreign ministry, which responds with approval and, in certain cases,
identification cards (carnets) that diplomats are required to carry at all times.
Accreditation for ambassadors, on the other hand, normally entails the presentation of
credentials and the in-person delivery of a letter from the issuing state's head to the receiving
state's head.
It is possible that the accreditation ceremony would be elaborate. A new ambassador in the
United Kingdom is “collected from the embassy or residence by a State landau from the
Royal Mews” and “escorted by the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps,” according to the
monarchy's official website. The ambassador "presents his or her Letters of Credence" to the
Queen during a twenty-minute "audience with The Queen," and the Queen often greets "his
or her suite," which has arrived in a different state landau. Three or four times a year, the
president of the United States conducts a simpler ceremony for newly arrived ambassadors.
Ambassadors are properly referred to as ambassadors-designate before they have delivered
their credentials (“letters of credence”).
Foreign service nationals (FSNs) are not certified, but they are usually reported to the host
government. FSNs are not granted any immunity or diplomatic status. On the opposite, they
have been harassed in some nations.
Foreign ministries, including the State Department, usually keep and publish a diplomatic list
that lists all accredited diplomats in the country by name and title. 17 The embassy informs
the ministry of a diplomat's position on the embassy's diplomatic staff list. There are also
family members over the age of eighteen mentioned. When posted overseas, almost all
generalists (officers) in the US foreign service, as well as many foreign service specialists
and most civil servants assigned to embassies from non–foreign service agencies, have
diplomatic status. Those that do not have diplomatic rank are usually referred to as officials, a
courtesy title that does not grant immunity.
Diplomatic recognition is not granted automatically. Any request for accreditation may be
rejected by a government by a declaration of persona non grata or the denial or removal of a
visa. Some governments formally or informally restrict the number of individuals they can
accredit or refuse diplomats access to certain areas.