Diplomacy and espionage

Diplomatic rank

Until the early 19th Century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. The relative ranks of diplomats from different nations had been a source of considerable dispute, made more so by the insistence of major nations to have their diplomats ranked higher than those of minor nations.

In an attempt to resolve the problem, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 formally established an international system of diplomatic ranks. The four ranks within the system were:

1. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, or simply Ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an ambassador would be known as an Embassy.

2. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, or simply Envoy. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy would be called a Legation.

3. Minister Resident, or simply Minister. A diplomatic mission headed by a minister resident would also be called a Legation.

4. Chargé d'affaires, or simply Chargé. As the French title suggests, a chargé d'affaires would be in charge of an embassy's or a legation's affairs in the (usually temporary) absence of a more senior diplomat.

Of the four diplomatic ranks, only the ambassador represents the head of state; originally only the ambassador was entitled to use the honorary title "His/Her Excellency".

As it turned out, this system of diplomatic rank did nothing to solve the problem of the nation's precedence. The appropriate diplomatic ranks used would be determined by the precedence among the nations; thus the exchanges of ambassadors (the highest diplomatic rank) would be reserved among major nations. In contrast, a major nation would probably send just an envoy to a minor nation, who in return would send an envoy to the major nation. As a result, the United States did not use the rank of ambassador until the end of the 19th Century.

Diplomacy is closely linked to espionage. Embassies are bases for both diplomats and spies, and some diplomats are essentially openly-acknowledged spies. For instance, the job of military attachés includes learning as much as possible about the military of the nation to which they are assigned. They do not try to hide this role and, as such, are only invited to events allowed by their hosts, such as military parades or air shows. There are also deep-cover spies operating in many embassies. These individuals are given fake positions at the embassy, but their main task is to illegally gather intelligence, usually by coordinating spy-rings of locals or other spies. The information gathered by spies plays an increasingly important role in diplomacy. Information gleaned from espionage is useful in almost all forms of diplomacy, everything from trade agreements to border disputes.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27