ABSTRACT
Few people in the history of diplomacy and statecraft have crossed the lines between the academic and political worlds with greater ease than Henry Kissinger. Quoting diplomatic practitioners and piling up anecdotal evidence, however authoritative and convincing, can nonetheless only serve as a starting point for any cogent exploration of the role of the personality factor in diplomacy. Foreign travel remains a crucial component in the practice of personal diplomacy and statecraft. Political leaders, diplomats, and envoys have visited neighbouring tribes or cities to conduct exchanges or negotiations for millennia. Foreign travel by leading decision-makers at times exceed routine state visits as well as speechmaking; and they often include symbolic acts defined as emblematic actions that epitomise a certain policy or programme and/or attract broad or even global attention. Whether planned or spontaneous, such acts may frequently become emblematic for the relationships of states or peoples far exceeding the immediate context.
