He noted that in earlier diplomatic eras, ambassadors enjoyed direct access to leaders and heads of state and didn’t become involved in trade, investment, culture, science and the media.
“The ambassador is now more involved in what is called low diplomacy—pushing trade, investment, technology, health, education,” Rana said. “This seems unglamorous, but it represents the essence of contemporary international life. Ambassadors must handle details, master logistics, remove obstacles and follow up on projects.”
In researching the role of the modern ambassador, Rana drew from his own experience in diplomacy, interviewed dozens of ambassadors, and carefully studied the literature of diplomacy. He said the main functions of an ambassador’s job are easy to summarize but difficult to do well: promotion, outreach, negotiation, feedback, management and servicing.
A good ambassador, Rana believes, usually has broad-ranging knowledge and curiosity, a solid understanding of what is going on at home, a strong grasp of national and global economics, polished media skills, innovative thinking skills, a fascination with international relations, and a command of at least one major language other than his or her native tongue.
“This is just my list. Others might have a different list,” he said. “But at the end of the day, personal relationships are what drive this whole process. Personal trust and personal credibility is absolutely the most important thing.”
Rana said it remains very difficult to measure the success of an ambass
ador, although a number of foreign ministries are trying to develop metrics of effectiveness. “There is no single way to measure the success of an ambassador. Different foreign ministries develop different internal norms and try to be relatively more objective. But it remains, in effect, subjective.”
Rana has spent the last decade since leaving India’s diplomatic service writing books for diplomats and students of diplomacy. He noted that there are about 8,500 ambassadors and 70,000 professional diplomats now at work around the world, many of whom are looking to upgrade their skills and broaden their perspectives.
“There is a gulf between those who look at diplomacy from a theoretical or scholarly perspective and those of practitioners. That’s a role I tried to fill,” he said. “My books are practitioner’s books. I don’t pretend to be a great theorist.”
Rana is currently working on a book about the diplomatic process in China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and India. It examines the foreign ministries and diplomatic services of these nations in a comparative way.
Rana has become very interested in teaching diplomatic skills via the Internet, saying that in many circumstances, e-learning is more efficient and economical than traditional learning.
To that end, for the past six years he has been teaching at the DiploFoundation, which is co-located in Malta and Geneva and is one of the pioneers of using the Internet (www.diplomacy.edu) for diplomatic studies. The foundation’s e-training includes a one-year post-graduate diploma course and several new 10-week courses that began in 2003. Rana teaches an eight-lecture course on bilateral diplomacy and is also developing a course on diplomatic documents.
Through writing and teaching, Rana has become more appreciative of the importance of mentoring young diplomats. “Ambassadors should pay greater attention to the next generation, and mentoring is exactly the operative word. All too often the young diplomats are taken for granted. You become more aware of this in the autumn of your life,” he said.
Rana called diplomacy a fascinating, consequential and, all too often, a misunderstood profession. “I think outsiders would be surprised at how much labor is involved. What you see is the swan on the surface. You don’t see all the peddling like mad under the water,” he said. “Much of the work of an embassy is no different than a service product by a corporation or a public utility. I believe that delivering effective diplomacy is a public good, like clean air and pure water.”
John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.
