Relevance of bilateral diplomacy in contemporary world:

Bilateral diplomacy is still relevant in the contemporary world in that usually when negotiations take place, it is much easier on a face to face basis whereby leaders do come together (bilaterally) and discuss issues of importance. Because of this, we find out that dialogue can be met because of physical contact and sign language which builds more trust amongst people. In bilateral diplomacy, missions are usually based abroad thus an ambassador or resident mission is well informed to the local environment such as language and culture of which he/she can easily integrate into that society and build trust among the locals (Berridge, G.R. 2005:121-122).

Another importance of bilateral diplomacy is that it does have first hand information. This is an important factor in that by having a resident mission, mutual relationship is built and at the same time the geopolitical factor arises in that the ambassador will be well informed and have good knowledge about the culture, the people and the day to day activities of that country compared to a foreign secretary who is so mobile and has loads of assignments at his disposal with limited time to get to know about a particular place or area.


Berridge, G.R. (2005), Diplomacy: theory and Practice, 3rd edition, New York: Palgrave Houndmills, Basingstoke.