Diplomacy is everything political leaders do to advocate their national interests abroad and secure them with a vast array of foreign policy tools—from sanctions, aid, and trade to back-channel communications and armed force. Diplomacy also includes international negotiations and discussions—called envoys, delegations, or ambassadors—that resolve or prevent conflicts. The results of these diplomatic conversations are international treaties and agreements that have helped end wars, settle disputes over land ownership, and even create new countries.

The practice of diplomaty evolved over time as political powers recognized the need for contact with each other. In the medieval period, the larger kingdoms of Europe would send and receive emissaries from one another, but smaller states were reluctant to allow foreign envoys into their territory for fear of being used for espionage or interference in internal politics. Eventually, Italy introduced the practice of exchanging representatives with France in 1455, which quickly spread throughout the continent. These early diplomatic exchanges grew into more formal arrangements between sovereign nations in the form of ambassadors, and later, the position of minister plenipotentiary emerged that was somewhere between an ambassador and a consul.

Creating and carrying out successful diplomacy requires many different skills. One is stamina; negotiating a treaty or resolving conflict can take marathon-length sessions with very little sleep in between. A good listener is essential, as is empathy with the other party’s perspective. A good example of this is the way Jimmy Carter used signed notes to Menachem Begin to demonstrate his understanding of his negotiating partner’s love for his grandchildren in his talks at Camp David that led to the Yom Kippur War cease-fire.