Diplomacy is the practice of implementing foreign policy objectives and resolving conflicts through international dialogue and negotiation, typically by accredited envoys. It is not coercive but is mostly nonviolent, and it fosters global cooperation in areas such as trade, culture, and science. Diplomacy also provides a means for nations to resolve their differences and build trust through international mediation and arbitration.
Although foreign policy and diplomacy are closely connected, they have different meanings: the former describes a government’s overall goal of its relations with other countries, while the latter is the specific work of bureaucratic institutions and processes that carry out this objective. Moreover, diplomacy is not just a matter of relationships between governments, but can also involve non-governmental entities and individuals.
For most of history, diplomacy was primarily concerned with bilateral relations, negotiations between two nations. Today, diplomatic engagements often occur in multilateral contexts between multiple states and their respective institutions. These include intergovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, and influential non-state actors.
Throughout history, the practice of diplomacy has been both informal and formal. In more informal settings, leaders have developed personal relationships that can have a significant impact on their official interactions. The personal trust between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, for example, helped bring about the end of the Cold War.
In more formal settings, diplomats participate in behind-closed-doors negotiations on specific issues. These negotiating sessions may take several weeks or even longer to reach an agreement. They are often structured as incremental bargaining, with the goal of achieving small compromises that can feed into an overarching agreement on issues such as international collaboration or a resolution of a conflict.