Colloquium: Dr Max Schweizer

The creation of Nation-states led to the need for communication among them. The more developed states became, the more they had to deal with each other regarding various issues. This goes especially for neighbouring states. In today's global village, every state entity is more or less connected to the others.

From simple forms of relations, more complex ones developed. To deal with this discipline, a certain professionalism was required, and specialists developed. In the context of the Vienna Congress (1815) certain rules were fixed in order to negotiate between them: Beside the bilateralism, the multilateralism started to take shape. The Vienna Diplomatic Convention of 1961 finally specified the rules and regulations for diplomatic relations.

The profession of diplomats was created, as well as the permanent representation called “Embassy”. In addition, Ministries of Foreign Affairs were established to deal with the challenges of foreign affairs and formulate the character of bilateral and multilateral relations. The international scene after WWI and WWII was characterized by the creation of many international organizations in various fields, which required qualified women- and man-power.

This talk aims to shed some light on the complex field of diplomacy to which every (future) taxpayer contributes and which support may be later needed in a professional or private capacity.