Conceptualising Specialised Diplomacy

Abstract While rotation remains common practice, some states are embedding professionals within their multilateral delegations and keeping their expertise ‘in function’ on a more permanent basis at the United Nations. This practice has, however, been largely overlooked in the literature and has not been linked to the idea of specialised diplomacy. In turn, while the term ‘specialised diplomacy’ is mentioned in the pertinent scholarship, it has not been offered in-depth definitional attention nor empirical grounding. Linking this otherwise ‘unused’ concept to the aforementioned observation, this article conceptualises specialised diplomacy as the practice of developing a unique form of context-specific hybridised expertise through the long-term stationing of professionals in a particular multilateral negotiation process. Employing a single case study approach, the article initiates an empirical base for this concept, explores its implications for contemporary diplomacy and reveals that states have been utilising this practice for decades.