The USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School (CPD) announced the recent publication by Palgrave Macmillan of The Diplomatic Corps as an Institution of International Society, co-edited by CPD acting director Geoffrey Wiseman in conjunction with Paul Sharp of the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The volume challenges the conventional view that the diplomatic corps is a leftover from the ceremony and privilege of a bygone era of “old diplomacy.” Its essays trace the historical development of the diplomatic corps. They demonstrate its importance in setting the terms on which everyday international life continues to be undertaken and the way the corps has adapted to a world in which states are increasingly only one among many actors that require diplomatic representation.

“Wiseman and Sharp have assembled a thought provoking compendium that makes a solid contribution to the study of diplomacy,” said CPD’s public diplomat in residence for 2007-2008 and visiting professor, Anne Chermak. “By focusing on the diplomatic corps as the subject of analysis, the volume allows the reader to gain a multidimensional perspective on this often overlooked element in international relations.”

Contributors to the volume include leading scholars from the field of diplomatic studies, serving diplomats, and scholar-diplomats.

“Wiseman’s new co-edited collection is an invaluable addition to the literature on diplomacy as it is practiced, and the interface of those debates with the issues of international relations theory,” said Nicholas Cull, director of the master of public diplomacy program. “The essays combine practitioner experience with regional case study and theoretical examination. Contributors include Mai’a Cross, shortly to join the USC public diplomacy team. It is especially good to read Geoff’s own autobiographical contribution to the book which reminds us how lucky public diplomacy at USC is to have a ‘switch hitting’ practitioner/academic at the heart of its work.”

The Diplomatic Corps as an Institution of International Society 
Center on Public Diplomacy