From the Preface   (Jovan Kurbalija and Hannah Slavik)

Eight years ago we started research and practical exercises on the influence of information technology in diplomacy. The more involved we became with the Internet and IT, the more we realised the crucial importance of many classical issues in diplomacy. One of these is language. While technology is replacing or at least changing the nature of many functions and methods of traditional diplomacy such as routine consular activities, communications, and information gathering, at the same time it is leading us to re-assert the importance of other core issues and techniques, including language use, negotiation, and such elements where human creativity can be assisted but not replaced by machines.