What Is The Role Of Diplomacy In National Power?

Finally, the national power of a country is greatly determined by the quality of diplomacy perused by the state. According to Morgenthau it is the quality of a nation's diplomacy which gives 'direction and weight' to other elements of national power. A good diplomacy can bring the different elements of national power to bear maximum effect upon those points in the international situation which have a direct bearing on the national interests; Morgenthau highlights the importance of diplomacy thus: "Diplomacy is the brain of national power, as national morale is its soul. If its vision is blurred, its judgment defective, and its determination feeble, ail the advantages of geographical location, of self-sufficiency in food, raw materials, and industrial production, of military preparedness, of size and quality of population will in the long run avail a nation little.

A nation that can boast of all these advantages, but not of diplomacy commensurate with them, may achieve temporary successes through the sheer weight of its natural assets. Lathe long run, it is likely to squander the natural assets by activating them incompletely, haltingly and wastefully for the nation's international objectives." However, this view of Morgenthau is not universally shared.

A sizeable number of scholars hold that diplomacy has considerably lost its importance in recent years due to die development of rapid means of communications which has reduced the diplomats to the position of dignified clerks. Further the impact of public opinion and the emergence of open diplomacy have also greatly contributed to the reduction in importance of diplomacy.