The Missing Link in the Study of Diplomacy: The Management of the Diplomatic Service and Foreign Policy

Abstract

This paper examines issues in the study of diplomacy and foreign policy. Its beginning point is that although there have been important contributions about the content of the foreign policy and diplomacy; there is a dearth of literature on issues of the management of foreign policy and diplomacy. The paper argues that the biggest universal challenge for foreign policy is its implementation. The paper hence challenges the traditional division of foreign affairs into policy and administrative aspects and makes a case for the review of this classical understanding of the dynamics of the making and implementation of foreign policy. It is argued that the study of the content of foreign policy must be twinned with the study of the administration of the diplomatic service, the lack of which constitutes the missing link in the study of diplomacy. Eventually, the paper advances the view that the study of diplomacy can only be enhanced by opening up both its epistemology and its practical context.