This collection of essays, from leading scholars and serving diplomats, examines the diplomatic corps as an institution of international society. The central argument is that the diplomatic corps provides one of the few unambiguous ways by which an international society is constituted and finds expression.

G. R. BERRIDGE Professor Emeritus, Leicester University, UK
MAI'A KEAPUOLANI DAVIS CROSS Colgate University, USA
ALAN K. HENRIKSON The Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA
J. E. HOARE British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (ret.), UK
HUMAYUN KABIR Bangladeshi Ambassador to Nepal, 2003-06
JOYCE E. LEADER University of Georgetown, former US ambassador, USA
HALVARD LEIRA Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
PETER LYON Formerly the Commonwealth Institute, London, UK
JAMES MAYALL Formerly LSE and University of Cambridge, UK
IVER B NEUMANN University of Oslo, Norway
KISHAN S. RANA DiploFoundation, Malta; former Indian ambassador
SASSON SOFER Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
ADAM WATSON Former British Ambassador and Visiting Professor, University of Virginia, USA

Foreword; A.Watson Introduction; J.Mayall PART I: THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT: HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND The Origins of the Diplomatic Corps: Rome to Constantinople; G.R.Berridge The Diplomatic Corps as a Symbol of Diplomatic Culture; S.Sofer PART II: THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS AS A SETTLED AFFAIR The Washington Diplomatic Corps: The Place, the Professionals, and their Performance; A.K.Henrikson The London Diplomatic Corps; P.Lyon The Emergence and Practices of the Oslo Diplomatic Corps; H.Leira & I.B.Neumann PART III: THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS RECALLED BY PRACTITIONERS Diplomacy in the East: Seoul, Beijing, and Pyongyang, 1981-2002; J.E.Hoare Representing India in the Diplomatic Corps; K.S.Rana PART IV: THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS IN ACTION The Kathmandu Diplomatic Corps: In Search of a Role in Times of Transformation; H.Kabir Genocide in Rwanda and the Kigali Diplomatic Corps: Consultation, Cooperation, Coordination; J.E.Leader The Skopje Diplomatic Corps and the Macedonian Political Crisis of 2001; P.Sharp PART V: THE FUTURE OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS The European Corps: Diplomats and International Cooperation in Western Europe; M.K.D.Cross Esprit de Corps: Sketches from Diplomatic Life in Stockholm, Hanoi, and New York; G.Wiseman Conclusion: The Diplomatic Corps' Role in Constituting International Society; P.Sharp & G.Wiseman