Diplomacy is the science or art of conducting negotiations, arranging treaties, etc, between nations; the branch of knowledge which deals with the relations of independent states to one another; the agency or management of envoys accredited to a foreign court; the forms of international negotiations. The Cardinal de Richelieu is generally considered as the founder of that regular and uninterrupted intercourse between governments which exists at present between almost all countries; though the instructions given by Machiavelli to one of his friends, who was sent by the Florentine Republic to Charles V (Charles I of Spain) show that Richelieu was not the first to conceive the advantages that might be derived from the correspondence of an intelligent agent accredited at the seat of a foreign government. Diplomatic agents are of several degrees: 1, ambassadors; 2, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary; 3, ministers resident;
4, charges d'affaires; 5, secretaries of legation and attaches. Their rank was regulated in Europe, in the above order, by the congress assembled at Vienna in 1814. Amongst the European powers it is agreed that of ministers of the same rank he who arrives first shall have the precedence over his colleagues. Research Diplomacy
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Matt and Leela Probert
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Research Diplomacy
