ABSTRACT
Diplomacy encompasses the entirety of relationships between sovereign entities, their representatives, and their inhabitants in the sovereign interest, and in the general cause of peace. The diplomatic record includes episodes of rupture, namely wars. Military history, strictly speaking, is a subcategory of diplomatic history, which was once among the most prestigious of fields for professional historians. Diplomats are particularly vulnerable in their clash with sovereigns, where the aura of privilege and proximity to power often prove to be a double-edged sword. The relationship between diplomacy and politics is essential, but it has also evolved unevenly. The New Diplomacy, and collective security, especially—described by Wilson as a community of power—are alternative sources of international order that he renewed with a more democratic form of politics for the twentieth century. Diplomats represent their leaders and fellow citizens; they also represent an idea or concept of international society, and, again, of civilization.
