Diplomatic Handbook [antikvár]

PREFACE l'ho aim ol' this book is to provide a concise but comprehensive source ol" relevant information for those who are embarking on an international and, particularly, a diplomatic career. It has been revised with the assistance of diplomats from many countries and members of international organisations, to all of whom I am deeply indebted for their unfailing courtesy and assistance. 1 would like to express my particular appreciation to my colleagues at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingcndaor; Henriette Feltham-van Dijk, Deputy-Head of the Netherlands Embassy Bureau in Berlin, Dato' A. S. Talalla Dircctor-Gcncral of the Malaysian Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, and Alison Nicol administrator of the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme; and above all to those whom I have had the privilege of teaching over the past twenty-five years: they have provided inspiration, enthusiasm and good fellowship, and I am the richcr for their company. 1 would also like to take this opportunity to point out that the word diplomat' in the English language can have either a masculine or feminine connotation, and if at any point in the text it is followed by the masculine personal pronoun it is solely to avoid the tedium of 'ho or sho': it is not intended to have any other significance. Berlin R.G.F.