The practice of diplomacy increasingly involves handling not only
differences in national cultures, but different organisational and
professional cultures at the same time. This conference focussed on the
increasingly important issue of communication between different
organisational and professional cultures in diplomacy. Diplomats today
function in an increasingly multilateral environment: more often than in
the past they are required to interact with a multitude of international
organisations, ranging from the UN down to specific interest lobby groups.
Simultaneously, diplomats are more and more involved in communicating
directly with the domestic public; again with a multitude of groups.