CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Diplomacy, a word derived from the Greek word “diploma” which is an official document emanating from princes; a diploma is understood to be a document by which a privilege is conferred. Some scholars have argued that the origin of diplomacy is hard to trace. According to them, the major subject of concern in the field of diplomacy has been its practice, rather than its origins (Der Deriam, 1987:2). Diplomacy as predicating the art of representation and representation is as old as human society itself. Nicolson (1969:6) argues that even in pre- history there must have come moments when one group of savages wished to negotiate with another group of savages, if only for the purpose of indicating, that they had had enough of the day‟s battle and would like a pause in which to collect their wounded, and to bury their dead. The fact that these savages did not spend all their time fighting, in Nicolson‟s view, is diplomacy. The nature and the nearness to one another of the numerous Greek city/states encouraged the development of inter-state relations. The political and commercial relations among the states gave rise to the cause of the states they represented in the popular assemblies of the other city-states. These intermediaries or „pourpaleurs‟ as they were called had to be orators and they enjoyed certain privileges and immunities such as the inviolability of their person. Diplomacy in the era of the Greeks was far from perfect. Ambassadors were appointed on an ad-hoc basis and for specific purpose. This led to the appointment of many ambassadors from a state to another at the same time. The contributions of the Romans, to the development of diplomacy were more in theory, in the realm of international law, than in practice. Their determination to impose “Pax Romana” on the world meant the ascendancy of force over diplomacy.