My understanding of diplomacy today

Thinking back on the day of a snowy Monday morning when we have been asked to answer very simple questions, makes me wonder how people do not understand the true meaning of diplomacy today. I have been asked many before taking the module what it is going to be about. Although I had some ideas I certainly did not think that diplomacy has so many branches or that it exists for thousands of years. Reading back my own and other blog entries, made me realize that in fact it is a nice line up and shows a sort of chronological order of how diplomacy evolved. The first misjudgment I made at the beginning of the module was placing new diplomacy somewhere around 1990´s (essentially when the Cold War ended). Secondly, I was not aware of all the actors and their role within diplomacy. Now I am aware that NGOs and non state actors form a vital part of diplomacy. What is perhaps more surprising that not only organizations but even individuals have roles within diplomacy. I believe it was in Brian White’s chapter where he talked about international students as diplomats. Most of us think about diplomacy as a peaceful way of solving conflicts, disagreements. It is interesting how every day activities such as sport events or dinners can be diplomatic events. Good example of this is the US wrestling team sent to Iran in 1979 and how it was a successful non-official exchange between the two hostile countries. Since then, “Wrestling diplomacy” has its meaning. This is only a small example to illustrate how diplomacy borders were pushed wider. Diplomacy is not an activity played by states only; it goes way deeper in our everyday life without us even being aware of it.