In Praise of a Self-Contained Regime: Why the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Remains Important Today

This chapter is dedicated to the challenges which the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, fifty years into its existence, faces in a world marked by a globalised economy and rapid technological developments. The author reflects on new diplomatic processes which have emerged through the creation of governmental and non-governmental institutions and on notions such as collaborative, public and cultural diplomacy which have challenged accepted understandings of the role and functions of traditional diplomacy. Barker also explores the fact that international law itself is changing from a system regulating co-existing sovereignties to a possibly fragmented discourse of complex frameworks which themselves challenge the sovereignty paradigm. In this context, he investigates the continued relevance and purpose of the VCDR and gives particular focus to existing mechanisms within the Convention that allow for modified and developed interpretations of the Convention to take account of the changing international world in which contemporary diplomacy operates.