Satow's Diplomatic Practice by Ivor Roberts (Honorary Faculty Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Honorary Faculty Research Fellow, University of Oxford)
First published in 1917, Satow's Diplomatic Practice has long been hailed as a classic and authoritative text. An indispensable guide for anyone working in or studying the field of diplomacy, this eighth edition builds on the extensive revisions in the sixth and seventh editions. The volume provides an enlarged and updated section on the history of diplomacy, including the exponential growth in multilateral diplomacy, and revises comprehensively the practice of diplomacy and the corpus of diplomatic and international law since the end of the Cold War. A new chapter provides extensive case studies of good and bad diplomacy. The book traces the substantial expansion in numbers both of sovereign states and international and regional organizations and features detailed chapters on diplomatic privileges and immunities, diplomatic missions, as well as consular matters, treaty-making and conferences. The volume also examines alternative forms of diplomacy, from the work of NGOs to the use of secret envoys, as well as a study of the interaction with intelligence agencies and commercial security firms. It also discusses the impact of international terrorism and other violent non-state actors on the life and work of a diplomat. The eighth edition offers a new chapter on recent developments and challenges of modern diplomacy, particularly in the light of the increasing importance and weight of China and the shock to the international system administered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finally, in recognition of the speed of changes in the field over the last twenty years, it includes updated chapters on human rights and public/digital diplomacy by experts in their respective fields.