Traditional diplomacy; do you think the ‘old diplomacy has any contemporary relevance? Explain why you hold your view and refer to contemporary or his

Traditional diplomacy has been the underlying structure in which modern diplomacy has thrived upon. In spite of the emergences of multilateral and public diplomacy, traditional diplomacy is still relevant in contemporary world due to the important tasks it performs such as representation, negotiating, clarifying intentions and gathering information on economic and military intelligence.
As promoting national interest abroad is the core function of diplomacy, a state’s representative options is broadened when embassies exist. On occasions where a senior government minister could not travel abroad on representative duties, the resident ambassador deputise on that minister’s behalf as good embassies honour local customs and make extensive social contacts.
At the funeral of the former soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow 1982, heads of government who could not attend were represented by their resident ambassadors to show their respect as failure to send a representative would have been deemed as lack of respect by the soviets.

Funeral of former soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982

Pre negotiation is another important role of traditional diplomacy. Through the usage of its embassies, pre negotiations tend to influence the atmosphere in which negotiation is conducted. For instance the International Road Transports agreement between Turkey and the United Kingdom in 1977. The commercial counsellor of the British Embassy in Ankara had negotiated an interim agreement in February 1976 and made all the preparations for the visit of the negotiating team from the British Department of Transport.
Finally, a resident ambassador can explain a written message with an oral explanation and be more appropriate than a special envoy. An ambassador’s presentation would reinforce the message due to the local reputation the ambassador has earned.
With the above arguments, it has been demonstrated that traditional diplomacy still has relevant role to play in today’s world.

Yaw