The Origins of Diplomacy

Abstract

Diplomacy is one of the oldest professions in the world. The first diplomats were messengers, sent on specific missions by their ruler. Contemporary diplomacy began to take shape in the 15 ^th century as the Italian city-states sent resident embassies to other countries to monitor events continuously. Over the following centuries, the rules governing the conduct of bilateral diplomacy were developed and codified. In the 19 ^{th century}, multilateral diplomacy evolved as the number of transnational issues that affected multiple states increased.