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This chapter seeks to strip the craft of the image of diplomacy as a ‘glamorous’ profession. The principal source base for this study is the private correspondence of c.50 diplomats and their families drawn from all ethnic groups in the British Isles. Postmodern approaches to history that inform other branches of the discipline are often greeted with a defensive hostility in international history. This study seeks rather to foster it, not through the rigorous application of theory to the interpretation of the past, but by the selective and sympathetic use of its concepts to elucidate aspects of human life and experience. This leads to the methodology employed namely the selective elucidation of diplomatic practice over time. The chapter also discusses cultural diplomacy before nongovernmental international organizations as a branch of international relations that can be defined in several ways.

Not long after the establishment of supranational institutions in the aftermath of the Second World War, the early incarnations of the European Union (EU) began conducting diplomacy. Today, EU Delegations (EUDs) exist throughout the world, operating similar to full-scale diplomatic missions. The Treaty of Lisbon established the legal underpinnings for the European External Action Service (EEAS) as the diplomatic arm of the EU. Yet within the international legal framework, EUDs remain second-class to the missions of nation States. The EU thus has to use alternative legal means to form diplomatic missions. This chapter explores the legal framework of EU diplomatic relations, but also asks whether traditional missions to which the VCDR regime applies, can still be said to serve the needs of diplomacy in the twenty-first century, when States are no longer the ultimate holders of sovereignty, or the only actors in international relations.

This chapter discusses the shift in the nature of the Dutch East India Company's diplomatic practice—one that would not only alter the way it did business in Asia but would also have far-reaching consequences for the company's relationship with the Tokugawa regime. After the company's initial dealings in Japan, it eventually dropped the distant figure of the Stadhouder, or the “king of Holland,” in favor of the governor-general and the Batavia Castle. Yet, having accepted missions and letters from the “king of Holland” in 1609 and 1612, the Tokugawa Bakufu refused in 1627 to endorse the company's attempt to substitute one sovereign with another without preparing the ground for the transfer. The Japanese regime, which could simply reference its own diplomatic archives for proof of past assertions about Dutch power structures, held the company's representatives to their own statements about the Stadhouder and demand that they remain consistent.

This chapter examines the blending of European and Amerindian diplomatic practices in the seventeenth century as both sides sought to find advantage over the other. It shows that the Europeans' failure to conform to the Natives' diplomatic expectations undermined the delicate balance of cross-cultural alliance. As the European allies failed to fulfill their kin obligations, the Natives shifted their loyalties to those who would fulfill them, thus maintaining a balance of power between themselves and the European powers vying for control of the continent. As long as the Amerindians retained power in relation to the Europeans, they could maintain their diplomatic protocols, incorporating Europeans into their kinship networks. Two developments made maintaining the Amerindian ways of diplomacy increasingly difficult and, eventually, impossible. One was the booming European population, particularly in the English colonies. The other was the English defeat of France in the Seven Years' War, which resulted in the withdrawal of the French from the North American continent.

This chapter offers a comprehensive review of the tribute system, which shows that the existing literature has largely ignored the role played by less powerful East Asian states. It is in this chapter that I suggest a new, more nuanced interpretation of the tribute system through the lens of “practices” rather than the “system.” The chapter then discusses in some details the concept of authority in the specific early modern East Asian context, while drawing on the writings of Chinese and Korean tributary envoys. The chapter also addresses questions of research design and explains the selection of case studies.

British diplomats were, first and foremost, watchers and their dispatches were dominated by the health and doings of the king, his ministers, and the fortunes of factions and favourites at court. This chapter reports the instances of support for, or protest against, royal policies, both foreign and domestic, in addition to confrontations between major interest groups in the state, most notably the clergy, the military, the nobility and, occasionally, other corporate groups. Competent diplomacy therefore involved the maintenance of cordial communications and active diplomacy was devoted to the improvement of relations between states. Much has been made of the congress system's failings and its introduction affected diplomatic practice in important ways. In the process of doing so, the attention of the corps began to shift away from the doings of royals and nobles towards the public in its various manifestations.

This chapter introduces the book’s concept of small states and situates it in broader debates about what constitutes a small state in International Relations scholarship and diplomatic practice. Earlier approaches often emphasized material characteristics like population or economic and military weight. This chapter explains the book’s relational approach to small states. Instead of seeking a fixed category of small states, scholars should consider size within the context of states’ relationships. Small states are constituted by their positions in salient, asymmetrical relationships, not by fixed characteristics. Finally, the chapter describes the organization of the remainder of the book.