Diplomacy is the art of creating solutions to global problems through constructive conversation. It is the practice of cultivating relationships with foreign governments, promoting international trade and security, building cultural understanding and managing conflicts between nations. It can be done at the highest level between heads of state, as with a summit or conference, or by lower-level staff in embassies around the world. Diplomacy has been around for thousands of years—treaty-making in Mesopotamia dates back to 2850 B.C.E.
Modern diplomacy takes many forms, from formal negotiation under international law (“track one”) to informal “back-channel” conversations between governments and non-state actors (“track two”). It includes governmental institutions, such as the International Court of Justice at The Hague, or less formal commissions, agencies, and tribunals, like the Hay-Herbert treaty that settled a border dispute between Canada and the United States in the 1940s. It also includes informal meetings such as the G7, and tracks devoted to specific issues, such as climate change.
A key ingredient of effective diplomacy is preparation, as demonstrated by Jimmy Carter in his Camp David negotiations with Menachem Begin, who had thoroughly read the CIA files on him. Another is courage—not the kind of risk-taking that might be found on the battlefield, but the willingness to break from established patterns, as Anwar Sadat and Henry Kissinger did in Northern Ireland. And finally, a healthy dose of pessimism: diplomats know that problems are going to beset even the best-designed agreements.