No. 142 - Diplomacy and Global Governance. The Diplomatic Service in an Age of Worldwide Interdependence

‘Institute for Western Affairs' Bulletin (No.142/2013) Thomas Nowotny, "Diplomacy and Global Governance. The Diplomatic Service in an Age of Worldwide Interdependence"

Traditional diplomacy had originated in, and had been anchored in a system shaped by the search for maximal national independence. That system no longer exists and has been supplanted by intense worldwide interdependence. Where it has failed to adjust to these changed settings, traditional diplomacy has become not just useless but counterproductive. In a new self-understanding as "engineers of global cooperation" diplomats do, however, retain a useful and even necessary function in this new era.