ABSTRACT
The Mexican law on the Foreign Service requires diplomats to keep confidential “information to which they have access in their diplomatic work”. Although Mexico introduced a Development Cooperation Law and created a new cooperation agency, it has fallen short of adopting a substantial South–South Development Cooperation (SSDC) programme. This chapter focuses on two issues: the advantages and disadvantages of doing research as a diplomat and the challenges of writing about SSDC as a Mexican. The Mexican law on the Foreign Service requires diplomats to keep confidential “information to which they have access in their diplomatic work”. It is commonly thought that there is or should be a wall between diplomacy and academia, an extension of the wall between politics and research. Academics who deal with contemporary foreign affairs study what diplomats do. The position of the diplomat researcher is complex and very different from that of an academic.
