Diplomacy, as a keen diplomat observed long ago,1 is an instrument of power. For centuries on end the wielding of power in Europe was based on territory and the wealth this generated. The ownership of land and its buying power was felt to justify the execution of exclusive rights. Notably, it legitimized the ruler's sovereignty and his prerogative to diplomacy and to wage war, that is the continuation of diplomacy by other, forceful, means. For centuries on end, the State was virtually the exclusive holder of these prerogatives. Theoreticians identified the State...
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