Diplomacy
How a Country Gets Recognized: Law's Quietest Revolution
There is no license to be a state — only the Montevideo criteria, a Security Council gate and 193 individual decisions.
Priscilla Vance · August 10, 2026
Diplomacy: Talks, Treaties and Power
Diplomacy follows negotiation as a process: who is at the table, what mandate they carry, which clauses stall ratification, and which agreements lapse quietly. Coverage includes summits, multilateral bodies, mediation efforts and bilateral talks. Profiles of envoys and mediators explain how settlements are actually reached, or why they are not.
Diplomacy
The Diplomatic Bag: The World's Most Trusted Suitcase
It cannot be opened or detained, carries no duties and has no size limit in law — a loophole the size of international relations.
Priscilla Vance · July 18, 2026
Diplomacy
The Back Channels That Survive the Break
When embassies close and hotlines go dead, states keep talking through scientists, airlines, Red Cross messages and the odd fishing dispute.
Priscilla Vance · June 25, 2026
Diplomacy
Arrested Abroad: What Your Embassy Can and Cannot Do
Consular protection is a right to be heard, not a right to be rescued — and the Vienna Consular Convention's fine print decides both.
Priscilla Vance · June 3, 2026
Diplomacy
State Visits Are Ballet With a Protocol Manual
Every walkway, toast and seating chart is negotiated line by line — because in summitry, the choreography is the message.
Priscilla Vance · May 11, 2026