Melissen. The Consular Dimension of Diplomacy

Copyright 2011. BRILL NV. All rights reserved.
. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or
INTRODUCTION
THE CONSULAR DIMENSION OF DIPLOMACY
Jan Melissen
Blending Diplomacy and Consular Affairs
This book aims to contribute to a better understanding of key themes

in consular affairs, the consular challenges that are facing three of the
worlds great powersthe United States, Russia and Chinaas well as
the European origins of the consular institution. It analyses the mul-
tifaceted nature of diplomacys consular dimension in contemporary
international relations and also aims at a forward-looking reading of
the history of the consular institution. As the academic literature on
consular affairs is rather thinly scattered, particularly in the field of
diplomatic studies, this book will hopefully break some new ground.
As far as the following essays enhance our knowledge of the consular
institution and contemporary consular challenges for a foreign minis-
try (MFA), this should be seen as the result of a collective effort by its
sixteen contributors, and predominantly from the point of view of the
disciplines of politics and history.
This introductory chapter intends to give a general grasp of what con-
sular affairs are all about and delves into various themes and issues from
the perspective of diplomatic studies. One thread running through this
book is how consular affairs can be understood in the broader context
of diplomatic practice and, vice versa, how the much-neglected study of
the consular institution may improve our understanding of contempo-
rary diplomacy. Four conceptual and empirical observations that help
frame our analysis are suggested at the start of our discussion. First,
the books outline at the end of this introductory chapter immediately
shows how the core function of consular affairs has radically been
transformed throughout history, roughly speaking from special judicial
responsibilities and the promotion and facilitation of particular trade
applicable copyright law.
flows to the assistance of individual citizens living or travelling overseas

in any conceivable capacity. With the evolution of international society
and the needs of its citizens, the consular function has thus been shown
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Account: s9233334
2 jan melissen
Copyright 2011. BRILL NV. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or
to possess an almost chameleonic quality, a flexibility that overrides

diplomacys proverbial adaptability to change.
Second, one way or another the consular function has always been
enmeshed with diplomacy. One basic finding emerging from this book
is that juxtaposing contemporary diplomacy and consular affairsas
distinct activities with entirely different functionsdoes not help us
to comprehend the essence of what are in reality overlapping areas of
work within foreign ministries. One may speculate about how consular
work will look in 2050. There is little doubt, however, that a perma-
nent need will remain for the resolution of practical consular issues,
and that such issues will overlap with diplomatic concerns. Typically
consular tasks are here to stay, including administrative services, prac-
tical duties in the national economic interest, urgent jobs and assign-
ments during emergency operations, as well as humanitarian tasks, but
the distinction between consular and typically diplomatic functions is
only useful up to a point. It will be increasingly hard to identify dip-
lomats who have not been personally involved in consular work. In
the eyes of practitioners, the opposition of consular and diplomatic
may look anything but academic. In the complex MFA environment,
the traditional contradistinction between separate consular and diplo-
matic worlds is in fact well beyond its sell-by date.
Third, and put briefly, the consular perspective has always been tied
up with unfolding transnational relations instead of mere inter-state
relations. Throughout history, the traditional division between foreign
and domestic was alien to the world in which consular officers oper-
ated, as their daily tasks guaranteed a variety of contacts with citizens
from different strata of society. A perspective on diplomacy infused
by the consular experience contributes, and could have contributed, to
an earlier questioning of traditional modes of thinking about a neatly
organized Westphalian diplomatic world. Fundamentally, the con-
sular dimension of diplomacy draws attention to the long-time neglect
of the societal dimension of world politics and diplomacy. That issue is
also being addressed in the recent surge of studies on public diplomacy
and thus reflects the largely hidden reality that, in spite of all their dif-
ferences, consular work and public diplomacy are somehow kindred
activities. To all intents and purposes, both are evidence of new priori-
ties and changing working practices in foreign ministries.

Finally, this study appears to show that in modern times the growth
in the structural demand for different types of consular services
responded to sweeping economic and social change in periods that
Account: s9233334
the consular dimension of diplomacy 3
were characterized by a thickening of international relations. Both

the rapidly expanding global economy and growing economic rivalry
among states in the nineteenth century, as well as the accelerated trans-
nationalization of world politics in the late twentieth century, led to a
dramatic upswing in consular work, even though the contrast between
the consular priorities in both epochs could hardly be greater.
The Conundrum of Rising Expectations
A great deal more has been written about diplomacy and diplomats
than about consular affairs and consuls. At any point in the history of
diplomacy and consular affairs, however, more people will have been
in touch with either honorary consuls, career consular officers or, after
the amalgamation of the diplomatic and consular services, with regu-
lar diplomats on a consular posting. Most citizens are also likely to
have less lasting memories of bumping into diplomats than their per-
sonal encounters with consular staff whose work, after all, consisted
of acting on their behalf or helping them out. To make the former
type of personal meeting possible, diplomats first have to make a point
of moving out of their own circle; while throughout history ordinary
people have been part and parcel of the consuls operational sphere.
The early consuls of the seafaring powers in the Mediterranean, who
antedated the resident ambassador but succeeded the first consuls de
la mer, became responsible for looking after the interests of collec-
tivities of traders in foreign lands. The consul was of course also in
those foreign havens in the interests of his personal business, as it took
various centuries for the non-remunerated consular job to become a
career, but his official consular role was to protect his compatriots. The
four historical contributions to this book, starting with the overview
by Halvard Leira and Iver Neumann, and also the three chapters on
the great powers, give a good impression of the uneven development
of the consular institution, about its deserved place in the history of
diplomacy, and also about the distinctly limited responsibilities of con-
suls. Today, it is hard for countries to get across to their citizens where
the limits of their consular responsibilities lie. Anybody, anywhere in
the world, may ask his own government to come to his rescue, as is
made clear by Maaike Okano-Heijmans in the next chapter. Outside

the European Union, EU citizens may even request assistance from
accredited officials of other EU member states. What all of this boils
Account: s9233334
4 jan melissen
down to is that governments see professional consular assistance as

the combined result of the responsibilities that come with statehood
and the moral rights that are inferred by their nationals citizenship.
Inevitably, however, individuals expectations of the kind of help that
their governments can afford are usually higher than what can realis-
tically be done, making consular expectation management a priority
issue within many foreign ministries.
In recent years consular work has become increasingly service-
oriented and the citizen calling on the MFA is nothing less than a
consumer of products and services delivered by the government. In
the words of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Offices strategy
for the years 20102013, consular affairs are about putting citizens
first. Comparable phrases and approaches have cropped up in the
consular vocabulary of many other countries, from Canada and the
United States in the West to China and Indonesia in the Far East. With
the distinct coalface quality that sets consular work aside from much
of diplomacy, it has invariably involved tte--ttes between officials
and their fellow nationals. With the advent of modern communication
technologies in consular practice, however, there are alternatives for
a great deal of the routine contacts, as Donna Hamilton points out in
her chapter on the United States. Electronic means will increasingly
enable governments, at least the wealthier ones, to provide faster and
more extensive internet-based services, and thus to promote efficiency.
This makes consular services potentially more reliable, but can also
backfire. Individuals may be less forgiving and understanding when
confronted with the shortcomings of machines rather than people, and
the theoretical speed with which services can be delivered is more and
more taken as a benchmark.
For foreign ministries, there is no return ticket to a much more
circumscribed practice of consular services, which has forced them
to strengthen their performance by enlisting the help of a variety of
domestic and international actors. The only way of meeting the con-
sular challenge today is for foreign ministries to engage in partnerships
with a variety of official actors and civil society organizations. In doing
so, as various chapters in the first two sections of this book illustrate,
the consular sector is developing skills and practical arrangements with
other parties, not least outside government, that are indicative of the
emergence of new, more collaborative modes of diplomatic practice.
Account: s9233334
The Inexorable Rise of Consular Affairs
Various factors have confronted foreign ministries with a true explo-

sion in the demand for consular services, and conspicuous consular
crises at the beginning of the twenty-first century provided multi-
media opportunities that added to the pressure on governments. One
cause of the rising demand for consular services since the late 1990s
lies in the surge in foreign travel, increasingly also by groups of the
adventurous young and the more vulnerable elderly. These groups
seem to be increasingly attracted by destinations with a greater degree
of risk, which, as William Maley relates, confront governments with
nasty dilemmas when it comes to providing citizens with generic travel
advice. Mass migration has led to an extra demand for visa and other
documentary services, which involve a lot of routine administrative
work that is fairly straightforward but extremely time-consuming. The
most depressing consular and indeed also diplomatic challenges for
foreign ministries are produced by intractable cross-border problems
such as child abduction and forced marriages. The low success rate of
such issues has generated considerable diplomatic effort in the inter-
ests of strengthening consular services, including negotiations aimed
at international legal regulation, while high-profile cases attracting
attention from the media and parliaments are as a rule lifted to the
diplomatic level. These and other developments and practices may
perhaps warrant speaking of consular diplomacy, a term that is some-
times also used rather loosely in this book, or merely understood as a
diplomatic effort in support of discharging consular functions.
Cross-border crime has also put considerable pressure on the con-
sular resources of a number of countries. Kidnappings by insurgent
groups affecting the citizens of third countries led to quiet diplomacy
involving mandarins and cabinet ministers. Major disasters brought
about by the forces of nature attracted the sort of attention that made
it politically impossible for the highest ranking diplomats and even
heads of government to stay aloof. The September 2001 terrorist attack
on the Twin Towers in New York and the Asian tsunami of 2004 were
true moments of maximum consular communication. These two
tragic events not only encouraged various countries to introduce 24/7
high-alert consular services; they also gave more urgency to the politi-
cally sensitive issue of intergovernmental consular collaboration. What
these and other factors contributing to the rise of consular affairs add
Account: s9233334
6 jan melissen
up to is that consular affairs are now widely recognized as requiring

a considerable investment in human resources. In terms of numbers
of staff, the consular sector has become the largest part of the MFA in
countries as different as the Netherlands, Mexico, Russia and China, as
Tatiana Zonova and Xia Liping specify in their chapters on the latter
two countries. That this mushrooming of consular affairs coincided
with societys more critical look at government, as many diplomats
recognize, has not made things easier.1
Consular Business and the Changing Foreign Ministry
The role of foreign ministries as coordinators of their countrys exter-

nal relations has become somewhat problematic in a diplomatic realm
in which the distinction between international and domestic affairs
is blurred, and where different actors inside and outside government
claim a share of what was once a largely privileged diplomatic space
for the MFA. In this hybrid environment, traditional diplomats may
sometimes feel like fish out of water, but this intermestic habitat
is actually one in which practitioners of consular affairs should feel
perfectly at home. Consular business has always been more deeply
entrenched in domestic affairs than any other aspect of MFA work,
and in recent years this development has been reinforced by the vari-
ous side-effects of globalization.2 In terms of its relationship with the
domestic public, a major opportunity as well as a considerable threat is
associated with this development. On the plus side, as has already been
mentioned, the growing volume of consular work has brought foreign
ministries markedly closer to their domestic constituency. More than
in any other field of MFA activity, the whole array of consular ser-
vices offers a chance for diplomats to demonstrate that they are not an
alienated elite. While this is hard to show for a great deal of diplomatic
work, it is self-evident in the consular line of duty.
1
Rene Jones-Bos and Monique van Daalen, Trends and Developments in Con-
sular Services: The Dutch Experience, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 3, 2008,
p. 89.
2
For an earlier discussion of consular affairs, see Maaike Heijmans and Jan Melis-
sen, MFAs and the Rising Challenge of Consular Affairs, in Kishan S. Rana and Jovan
Kurbalija (eds), Foreign Ministries: Managing Diplomatic Networks and Optimizing
Value (Malta and Geneva: DiploFoundation, 2007), pp. 192206.
Account: s9233334
In an increasingly transparent world, however, where people are

getting used to being in touch all of the time, no matter the physical
distance, there is also a downside. The effect of the growing amount of
assistance to citizens in need, as well as the rising number of visa issues,
makes consular work more of a public matter and also increasingly
political. Journalists and parliamentarians tend to spot the govern-
ments consular failures rather than quiet behind-the-scenes victories,
and between them the press and the legislative branch of government
have the power to turn consular cases into damaging media events.
With the rise of consular affairs, it then appears that the foreign min-
istrys own reputation is more at risk. The real threat for MFAs is
that while citizens abroad expect assistance in the most extraordinary
circumstances, those who stay at home wonder why their government
fails. Finally, as various authors in this book illustrate, consular crises
across the world have the potential to undermine seriously and unex-
pectedly otherwise smooth bilateral relationships.
Increased attention for the consular dimension of diplomacy can
help students of diplomacy to understand change in contemporary
diplomatic practice. The rise of the consular dimension is an indicator
of the changing balance between the age-old functions of diplomacy
and core tasks that have more recently gained in prominence. The
significance of this change may escape those who are preoccupied with
high-politics issues and are hence mainly or exclusively focused on
diplomacys classical functions. Three interrelated developments cast
light on this development. First, the more domestically orientated for-
eign ministry turns diplomats into service-oriented professionals, who
can no longer be merely described as managers of change or mediators
of estrangement. As one study put it:
The classic distinction between high-priority sovereign representation
and the relatively low-priority service tasks of MFAs and their represen-
tations is no longer accepted, as MFAs are turning into public service
organizations responsible for handling a mixture of tasks, whose relative
priority is not given in advance.3
Second, the fact that the consular dimension of diplomacy is in some
ways moving centre-stage helps us to see that the really testing theme
3
Jorgen Gronnegaard Christensen and Nikolaj Petersen, Managing Foreign Affairs:
A Comparative Perspective (Copenhagen: Danish Institute of International Studies,
2005), p. 41.
Account: s9233334
8 jan melissen
for foreign policy bureaucrats is how they can strengthen networks

outside their own sphere and collaborate successfully with a variety
of actors. Consular services have become highly dependent on a good
working relationship with a number of domestic non-governmental
actors, to the extent that the quality of such collaborative partner-
ships has become a necessary condition for success in consular assis-
tance. Contrarily, however, as the chapters by Ana Mar Fernndez,
Mara Wesseling and Jrme Boniface demonstrate, on the issue of
EU collaboration completely different governmental reflexes and
trade-offs are at work. It is above all the domestic entrenchment of
the consular dimension of diplomacy that turns international coop-
eration beyond the basic sharing of facilities and information into a
complicated venture.
Last but not least, consular work points to the growing embedded-
ness of diplomatic practice in society, the link between diplomats and
the public at home and abroad, and the importance of diplomats pay-
ing attention to public opinion and public expectations. Beyond assist-
ing the execution of typical consular functions, the diplomatic efforts
underpinning consular work stand in the wider context of diplomacys
societization. In all sorts of ways, tomorrows diplomats will become
more tied up with the societies that they represent and the societies
where they are represented. In a macro-historical perspective and
against the historical backdrop of diplomatic aloofness from main-
stream society, this may constitute a sea change for diplomacy. From
the vantage point of consular officers, this development is common-
place, however, as consular work is, and has always been, about the
needs of individuals, their protection, and the promotion of practical
cooperation between corporate bodies.
What to Do with Consuls?
The radical transformation of consular functions across time is a trib-

ute to the flexibility of this institution, which reached its apogee in the
long nineteenth century from 18001914. As a result of the imme-
diate impact of the Industrial Revolution, Western European powers
substantially increased the number of their consuls. Some of them
gained the prestige of ambassadors in dependent territories outside the

European world, particularly in the Levant, Asia and Latin America.
In their incarnation as guardians of international trade, nineteenth-
Account: s9233334
century consuls became, as Jrg Ulbert puts it, acteurs de lexpansion

occidentale dans le monde.4 In the tense climate of growing economic
rivalry that characterized the nineteenth century, European consuls
were enjoying their finest hour. Other emerging powers followed the
European example and started appointing their own consuls. Tsar
Peter the Great, as a fervent promoter of occidental progress, had
already accredited Russias first consuls at the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century. Interestingly, the United States developed a sizable
consular network, while its diplomacy reflected its fundamentally iso-
lationist stance throughout the nineteenth century. China only joined
Russia, the United States and the European world with the creation of
a consular network in the final quarter of the nineteenth century.
Economic expansion led to the consular institutions heyday in
modern history but, ironically, the long-term effects of industrializa-
tion and growing international trade were less benign for consuls. In
the eyes of governing elites and the international business commu-
nity, trade promotion became too important to be left to the consuls,
and the image of the consular service as second classas a Cinderella
Servicegradually became more familiar.5 Economic factors contrib-
uted to consuls further marginalization as actors of Western global
expansion or, as Jess Nez Hernndez writes about Spain, their
gradual diplomatization. When the need for economic intelligence
became greater and the commercial attach entered the diplomatic
scene in the first part of the twentieth century, the days of consuls
seemed to be numbered in the field of economic assistance. With the
convergence of political, economic and consular work and the inte-
gration of tasks, the amalgamation of separate diplomatic and con-
sular services was only a matter of time. Few countries postponed this
merger until after the Second World War, like the Netherlands, as
Kersten and Van der Zwan write in their short history of the Dutch
consular service.
With decreasing economic work and the acceleration of other con-
sular tasks, as a result of the combined effects of migration, interna-
tional travel and the consular fall-out of major wars and international
4
Jrg Ulbert, La Fonction Consulaire au XIXe sicle, in Jrg Ulbert and Lukian
Prijac, Consuls et services consulaire au XIXe sicle (Hamburg: DOBU, 2010), p. 18.
5
D.C.M. Platt, The Cinderella Service: British Consuls since 1825 (Edinburgh: Long-
man, 1971).
Account: s9233334
10 jan melissen
crises, the first half of the twentieth century definitely turned the page
for consular affairs. Perceptions of what constitutes the essence of
consular work started to shift, and trade promotion was increasingly
seen to be a secondary duty. Many foreign ministries are today much
more preoccupied with dimensions of consular work such as consular
assistance, visa policy and the prospects for international consular
cooperationissues that keep them busy for very good reasons and
that have made consular affairs much more visible for all diplomats.
In spite of their importance, the principal consular-policy concerns
inside foreign ministries are, however, only a partial reflection of the
practical tasks that are executed by those in the periphery.
Broadly speaking, it is not difficult to distinguish between diplomatic
and consular work. Consular work is of a more practical nature and
has a strong emphasis on cooperation between countries, and consul-
ates do of course also operate in a more restricted areathe consular
districtthan the embassy, which is covering a country as a whole.6
Going too far in portraying consular work and its typical functions
as entirely different from diplomacy proper does, however, not serve
analytical purposes, neither at the more general level discussed at the
beginning of this chapter, nor in a more practical sense.7 Consulates
strengthen a foreign ministrys overall representational capacity; it is
increasingly realized how they can make an effective contribution to
the MFAs public diplomacy; and, above all, their added value seems
evident in big countries of economic significance. As Smith Simpson
wrote almost 30 years ago:
Consular posts are in reality political, economic and cultural outposts,
adding to a governments observation, listening, intelligence-gathering,
crisis-alerting, trade promotion, cultural and public relations opportuni-
ties. They are often in touch with whole regions of a country with which
embassies in capitals are not.8
6
For a concise and level-headed overview, see Sir Ivor Roberts (ed.), Satows Dip-
lomatic Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), in particular chapter 19.
An indispensible legal analysis is the handbook by Luke T. Lee and John Quigley,
Consular Law and Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
7
For an opposite view, see G.R. Berridge, Diplomacy: Theory and Practice (Basing-
stoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 4th ed.), pp. 128129.
8
Smith Simpson, Political Functions of Consuls and Consulates: The Consular
Contribution to Diplomacy, in Martin F. Herz, The Consular Dimension of Diplomacy
(Washington DC: University Press of America, 1983), p. 14.
Account: s9233334
It is above all their regional presence that supports the case for con-
sulates, career consuls and honorary consulsas agents that can con-
tribute to the national economic interest. The economic importance
and greater actorness of regions, quite a few of them with the muscle
of small states or even sizable middle powers, is one of the striking
features of the current global economy. MFAs that are considering
the closure of consulates as a relatively easy target in their drive to cut
costs had therefore better establish whether they contribute to bilateral
trade flows. In his chapter in this book, Kevin Stringer suggests that
may well be the case.
What to do with consuls? Calls for overseas regional representation
beyond other nations capitals have been a key element of government
policies, most famously in the United States second Bush administra-
tions transformational diplomacy, which was pronounced by US Sec-
retary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2006. An increasingly local posture
does not automatically rule in favour of consulates, but tends to draw
on functions in the field of export promotion and inward investment
that were traditionally performed by consuls. Many governments in
the Western world have recently created specialized agenciessuch
as the Netherlands Business Support Offices, UBIFRANCE, the Cana-
dian Trade Commission, the Finpro Trade Centres, or Spains ICEX
officethat are in effect taking over and professionalizing such tasks.
Their activity is particularly visible in emerging economies such as
the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Other types of
informal missions, including specialist knowledge outposts like Swit-
zerlands Swissnex and industrial intelligence offices such as Innova-
tion Norway, also make clear that the age-old consular functions are
of course by no means extinct. They may, however, be performed by
people other than consular officers or diplomats, in different types
of informal missions, and actually be less recognizable as consular,
because they go under another name.9 This is entirely consistent with
the early history of the consular institution, when people doing con-
sular work were in fact known by a variety of titles.
It is hard to predict what the long-term consular response of coun-
tries will be to major geopolitical shifts and intensified competition
in the global economy. Foreign ministries will certainly keep asking
9
I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer of this book for drawing my attention
to this point.
Account: s9233334
12 jan melissen
themselves what sort of consular tasks still need to be undertaken or

will continue to be performed by diplomats, and how future career
consuls and honorary consuls should fit in. The first of these questions
is, of course, the easier. As to the second, the mere fact that the con-
sular institution has proven to be necessary for so many centuries and
that it has been typified by an amazing flexibility should, at least from
an academic point of view, bring a bit of relief to foreign ministries
apprehension.
Chapter Outline
Contemporary Consular Affairs

This book consists of three separate sections on themes in contempo-
rary consular affairs, the consular services of three great powers (the
United States, China and Russia), and the evolution of the consular
institution.
The first part deals with different themes in contemporary consular
affairs. Inevitably, the topics and perspectives in this book do not cover
all of todays consular challenges, but they aim to give an adequate
impression of the fast-growing importance and multifaceted nature
of consular tasks in the work of foreign ministries. Maaike Okano-
Heijmans observes that ministries of foreign affairs renewed interest
in consular affairs mainly stems from the need to meet the growing
demands of citizens. MFAs primary motivation to improve their ser-
vices is to guard governments against criticism from nationals, but
they also recognize the potential marketing value of consular affairs.
Regular consular affairs are dealt with through standard administra-
tive procedures, and in cooperation with external partners. Ministries
of foreign affairs do, however, also engage in what can be called con-
sular diplomacy, which either involves the diplomatic negotiation of
a (legal) framework or the solution through diplomacy of intractable
high-profile cases. In this sections second chapter, William Maley
writes that foreign ministries are increasingly under pressure to antici-
pate risks that their nationals might face abroad, and to provide real-
time warnings as threats materialize. This has created new challenges:
a strong warning from the ministry of foreign affairs may offend a

friendly government; while a warning that is insufficiently robust may
expose the MFA to political attack. Maley argues that the weight of
Account: s9233334
domestic considerations is likely to carry the day, and that this has the
potential to lead to routine exaggeration of threats, with a number of
significant consequences. Maley suggests, inter alia, that consideration
might be given to outsourcing such activities. Kevin Stringer looks at
a dimension that most observers associate with the history of consular
work or even consular decline, but that should not be overlooked in an
era of enhanced global economic competition, with growing presence
by regions and cities on the international stage, and augmenting pres-
sure on the cost of overseas representation. Stringer contends that, in
spite of its history, the commercial dimension of consular work is once
again becoming a significant component of diplomatic power, when
compared to the work of embassies. He argues in particular that shifts
brought on by globalization make the institution of honorary consul
relevant for this new era of diplomacy. Stringers chapter discusses
why regions and municipal hubs are increasingly more important than
national capitals in terms of business and commerce, and it highlights
how states are using honorary consuls to extend their representational
network. He demonstrates in particular how selected countries are
using honorary consuls to develop their export and trade relations.
The first part of the book concludes with two chapters on the Euro-
pean Union. As a political order, the EU is not eliminating the classi-
cal Westphalian model, but it has transformed diplomatic practice in
a profound sense. Arguably, Europe is once again one of the worlds
most fascinating diplomatic laboratories, and indeed also a testing
ground that shows the potential as well as the limitations of interna-
tional consular cooperation. Discussions on contemporary European
diplomacy tend to focus on the nascent External Action Service. It is,
however, very likely that pressure to demonstrate the viability and ben-
efits of efficiency will focus on harmonizing the consular activities of
member states, particularly in the field of visa policy. Ana Mar Fernn-
dezs chapter sets the scene by exploring the institutional development
of the external side of EU internal security. In particular, her chapter
addresses the question of its administrative settings. It examines the
patterns of administrative cooperation resulting from both the gradual
institutionalization of channels of trans-governmental consular coop-
eration and the growing deployment of the EUs harmonized rules and
practices. The chapter ends with some concluding remarks concern-

ing the implications of this process for the consular administrations
of EU member states in third countries and, more generally, for the
Account: s9233334

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Copyright 2011. BRILL NV. All rights reserved.

THE CONSULAR DIMENSION OF DIPLOMACY

Blending Diplomacy and Consular Affairs

This book aims to contribute to a better understanding of key themes

flows to the assistance of individual citizens living or travelling overseas

to possess an almost chameleonic quality, a flexibility that overrides

ties and changing working practices in foreign ministries.

were characterized by a thickening of international relations. Both

The Conundrum of Rising Expectations

made clear by Maaike Okano-Heijmans in the next chapter. Outside

down to is that governments see professional consular assistance as

The Inexorable Rise of Consular Affairs

Various factors have confronted foreign ministries with a true explo-

up to is that consular affairs are now widely recognized as requiring

Consular Business and the Changing Foreign Ministry

The role of foreign ministries as coordinators of their countrys exter-

In an increasingly transparent world, however, where people are

for foreign policy bureaucrats is how they can strengthen networks

What to Do with Consuls?

The radical transformation of consular functions across time is a trib-

gained the prestige of ambassadors in dependent territories outside the

century consuls became, as Jrg Ulbert puts it, acteurs de lexpansion

themselves what sort of consular tasks still need to be undertaken or

Contemporary Consular Affairs

a strong warning from the ministry of foreign affairs may offend a

practices. The chapter ends with some concluding remarks concern-

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