Engaging Home in International Diplomacy: Introduction

Abstract

and its domestic socialisation, a broad and domestic context. We this Forum shows that there is a need for better theoretical and empirical understanding of state-society relations as an integral part of the narrative on contemporary diplomacy. The ‘mood of the country’ has always influenced foreign policy capacity and international state behaviour, but society across the world has become more dynamic, is expressing more pro-nounced opinions on foreign policy-related matters affecting the domestic sphere, and people are claiming greater agency. We suggest that national governments and other international actors have some way to go in their con-ceptual understanding and practices of diplomatic engagement with ‘ordinary people’ and we hope that students of diplomacy will further analyse the trends touched upon in this Forum.