Diplomats: Do We Need Them?

Is the foreign service passé? In this day and age, when the latest news, even from the most distant lands, is only one mouse click away, when CNN brings us images of the latest humanitarian catastrophe in real time, when people travel quickly and easily to all parts of the world, do governments still need a wide network of embassies, staffed by a professional corps of highly trained diplomats, to tell them what is going on beyond our shores?

Of course they do. From the days of Alexander the Great down to those of Lester Pearson, the tools of diplomacy have changed beyond recognition, but the core of the business, its very essence as an art, has and will remain the same: building relationships. This is why we will always need people overseas, people who can speak the language and understand the culture, people who can develop and maintain a wide network of contacts to defend our interests. Just think: how could we fathom the intricacies of a power struggle in a...