ABSTRACT

This chapter identifies the contexts that constrain as well as enable diplomats to perform their tasks and make diplomacy in the first place. It aims to differentiate between demiurgic and autopoietic layers as well as substantive and procedural dimensions of contexts. The chapter discusses diplomatic law and introduces readers to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Today's diplomatic law provides the procedural guidance for ensuring the functionality of diplomatic institutions, especially the resident embassy. The chapter discusses four major provisions. First, mission premises are inviolable. Second, there is the often-quoted diplomatic immunity. Third, the host state has the duty to protect the communication lines between the embassy and its sending state. Fourth, embassies ought not to interfere in the domestic affairs of their host country. It clearly shows, however, that the Vienna Convention was written before the age of global diplomacy. The multiplication of actors and issue areas was still very much in its infancy.