ABSTRACT
Diplomats are practicing their craft in an age of intellectual, geographic, and political upheaval. Their work is at the center of the transformations taking place in world politics. Much of the most urgent diplomacy will be conducted in connection with the breakup of large, as well as traditionally multicultural, states. Institutional reform will continue to challenge the diplomat. The UN system and the various regional organizations are growing in stature and importance. The management of the global economy will be in the hands of an ever larger and more diverse number of players. The international business diplomacy of the actors mentioned above will be conducted with increasingly less reference to national policies or the will and ideologies of central authorities. The foreign policy agenda for most countries, and the contribution that professional diplomats can make in achieving that agenda, has probably never been larger or more challenging.
