The Domestic Arena

Abstract

The home—external nexus is stronger today than ever before; diplomacy has been ‘domesticized’. The embassy has gained in value as the home country’s best source of comprehensive information on the country of location. This impacts on the work of embassies. A key target for public diplomacy is the home audience; and the embassy, paradoxically, has the potential to help the home foreign ministry in its domestic outreach. By receiving visitors from home, the embassy plays a key role in burnishing the image of the country’s diplomacy and in networking with key decision makers, including non-state personalities, that play an influential role. We also examine ethical dilemmas in the work of embassies, including instances of corruption and the role embassies play during transformative events. A few foreign ministries, notably the United States, operate dissent channels through which embassy officials can express views that differ with official policy. This approach is worth emulating.