ABSTRACT
We cannot start discussing diplomacy without some familiarity with how it is organised. A diplomat acts in a network of actors all concerned with the management of foreign relations. At the core of that network stands the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). So that is where we will start. We sketch the structure of an MFA starting at its top, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then go down its departments and services to end up with the desk officer. We look at the dual role of an MFA: advising the Minister and coordinating foreign policy. From the centre, we move to the periphery, the diplomatic missions abroad: first the Embassies and Consulates which are the privileged channels for the conduct of bilateral relations between states, and then the Permanent Representations to international organisations which are the channel for the conduct of multilateral diplomacy. What do headquarters expect from the diplomat posted abroad and how does a diplomat go about in his or her daily work? How does a diplomatic career unfold, what are its challenges and opportunities? The concepts reviewed in this chapter are rather basic and are meant to make the reader familiar with diplomacy’s vocabulary.
