Abstract
From ancient times until well into the nineteenth century, all messages, including diplomatic messages, were carried by hand. Even at the beginning of the twenty-first century, diplomatic couriers are still employed for the delivery of certain top-secret packages (Angell). But over the past century and a half, diplomatic messages have been increasingly carried by telecommunication: any mode of communication over a long distance (tele is Greek for ‘far’) that requires human agency only in the sending and reception of the message that it contains and not, as with a courier, in its conveyance. This chapter will consider the advantages and disadvantages of the different kinds of telecommunication. It will also give some emphasis to crisis diplomacy, because it is in this activity that telecommunication is often held to be of greatest value, and it is certainly here that it has received the greatest attention.
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Further reading
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© 2010 G. R. Berridge
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Berridge, G.R. (2010). Telecommunications. In: Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379275_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379275_13
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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