An embassy is symbolic because it is a representation of a country on another country’s soil. The land upon which the embassy sits is sacrosanct; it is so entrenched within the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that there is very little room to dispute the sanctity of an embassy’s premises. When a country decides to close its embassy (for generic purposes, let’s just use the word ‘mission’), it normally does so with a heavy heart. In this article, let’s look…
His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong, Sultan Mizan of Terengganu, presenting the Letter of Credence to a Malaysian Ambassador Ambassador ↗ For a rank-and-file diplomat (what we elegantly term ‘career diplomat’) to become an ambassador, these are the steps that are taken, procedurally. Bear in mind that different countries will have different processes, depending on the type of government in place. These differences are often very small, however, since most countries have a similar process in place. Step One: A…
People’s perception of a country is one of the more important things in diplomacy. In high politics, the perception of being powerful enough to do what YOU want to do, is what deters other countries from taking advantage of you, fearing retaliation. In diplomatic networking, the perception that a particular person is a ‘do-er’ rather than just a ‘talker’ will result in people gravitating towards the person. Never mind if the perception is not real – it is always the…
