By Baron Henri Estramant. The global trade of kava should be worth at least € 70-75 million for the South Pacific countries of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), however, the much needed revenue for the Pacific Ocean region has declined dramatically since Germany and other EU countries withdrew their market license to all kava-containing pills or pharmaceuticals. In the South Pacific vox populi it is simply referred to as a de facto “ban”. Nevertheless a true EU-wide ban is not in place as the spokesperson for the EU’s Health Directorate General Frédéric Vincent clarified, rather restrictions apply in some EU member states. Likewise the global the trade has been badly damaged in the USA since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report admonishing about the potential perils of kava consumption for the liver. Notwithstanding the negotiations led by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), as well as “bilaterally” with the individual kava-growing states begin to bear fruits. Indeed, Vanuatu’s Ambassador to the EU, Roy Mickey Joy. Piper methysticum under its scientific name or simply kava is an herb endemic to the South Pacific Ocean region. It is commonly used to prepare traditional beverages known for its relaxation effects. Kava is also widely used in rites of passage, political, religious or ceremonial rituals dating back to at least the 10th century. But aside the cultural importance of kava in the South Pacific the international trade thereof is badly needed for countries with very few indigenous resources in large scale to export. Trading kava to EU countries as well as to the USA and Canada is “vital” according to Vanuatu’s Ambassador Roy Mickey Joy. For “the economies of the South Pacific the trade is vital in European markets because Europeans are seeking alternative natural or rather herbal remedies for reducing anxiety, sleeplessness, pain, and depression” . But even on the other side of the Atlantic, a consumer advisory dated March 25, 2002 of the US American FDA further warns “of the potential risk of severe liver injury associated with the use of kava-containing dietary supplements”. The FDA position remains unchanged mainly because producers manufacturing kava-containing pharmaceuticals “cannot quantify the popularity of kava use by consumers” . The FDA has not called for an outright ban on kava based pharmaceuticals/products as it exists in Canada yet it believes it is mission to inform consumers about the alleged “liver-related risks associated with the consumption of it. Kava-containing products have been associated with liver-related injuries – including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure — in over 25 reports of adverse events in other countries”. The presence of kava in a supplement should be identified on the product label in the “Supplement Facts” box. Having the latter into account, the “FDA has seen somewhat of a resurgence of products containing kava on the market. After FDA released the consumer advisory in 2002, there seemed to have been a decline in the availability of products due to lack of product liability insurance” according to Media Officer Christopher C. Kelly from the FDA. The ban in Canada was a result of the “ban” (in fact restrictions) in some EU countries rather than own scientific research. The license for kava-containing was withdrawn for pharmaceuticals in France, Switzerland, the UK or The Netherlands without home-made research after the German Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) did so first. Exporters from the South Pacific continue to fight the “EU ban” on pharmaceutical products based on kava. They consider it to be a violation of the international trade agreements with the WTO. Back in 2005, Fiji even presented a formal complaint to the WTO buttressed up by Tonga. According to figures provided by Fiji “only three cases have emerged out of 450 million pills dispensed worldwide between 1990 and 2000”. In the South Pacific kava has been consumed quotidian without any adverse health effects on the population for centuries. As a matter of fact, it guarantees social cohesion and harmony because it is consumed au lieu of alcohol. “By 10pm Pacific Islanders sleep soundly after an evening of kava consumption. Crime is almost non-existent”. All in all about 3.500 kava farmers/exporters in the entire South Pacific are dependent on exports to EU countries, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Trade with South America or Asia is negligible largely due to the own culture for indigenous herbal products in those markets according to Ambassador Roy Mickey Joy. Alternative markets in China and New Caledonia have not proved to be as profitable. Even the UK with excellent ties to most South Pacific countries has seen it fit to prohibit medicines manufactured with kava since 2002. Yet the ban does not apply if the kava-kava products were manufactured in a European Economic Area (EEA)/EU country or are in free circulation there. Yet one should notice that one liver-damaging extract of a sort known as WS 1490 had been processed in Germany by Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Karlsruhe. “This company refused to give samples of extracts to the scientific community for in-depth chemical analysis. It has been suggested that these events were caused by the poor quality raw material or incorrect kava parts in the manufacture of a few extracts”. Schwabe counteracts that “after the ban of Kava products and the loss of commercial interest Schwabe stopped all activities concerning Kava and thus did not provide samples for investigations”. A German study from 2008 showed that the hepatotoxicity which damages the liver may be caused by contamination with aflatoxins or other mould hepatotoxins rather than by the kava plants themselves. The recommendation therefore is only to export the noblest (purest) kava herbs, greater quality control during production of derived products as well as the consumption of products with care. One should also beware that there are about 100 varieties of kava, and that those which caused the liver-damage might be isolated extracts. Notwithstanding pharmacist Dr. Matthias Schmidt, a kava expert, from “HerbResearch” based in Bavaria bemoans the lack of interest of German health authorities in reintroducing kava to the German market. According to him at scientific kava conferences “German authorities have shined through their absence”. On the other hand EU representatives attended the kava conference which took place in March 2012 in Vanuatu.  Nonetheless no representatives were present at the latest kava conference in Suva on 6 March 2014 The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat concerns with the proliferation of strict regulations for kava worldwide set up the International Kava Executive Committee, which seeks ways to get the restrictions in some EU countries lifted. They see an immediate –conservative- potential of about €4 million just in kava trade to the EU  if the restrictions are lifted in Germany, the UK, France and Switzerland. One should notice that the market of most EU countries are technically open for kava, yet the contact with countries in the South, North and Centre of Europe is limited economically and diplomatically . Kava pharmaceuticals have been classified as “new entity” in Germany which entails that firstly extremely expensive research must be financed to get the pharmaceuticals approve. “The purpose must be to keep kava-containing medicines out of the free market. It does not seem to matter that the EU position only triggers disapproval outside the EU”. The kava advocates rhetoric is misleading as EU wide restrictions are not in place. Vanuatu alone exports about € 0.32 million worth in kava nowadays as opposed to the € 1.34 million before kava restrictions began to sprawl up. Statistics show the total loss of economic commercial value due to the trade restrictions ranges at least between 150 and 200 million dollars, in the last ten years”. Kava trade to Australia and New Zealand is free though imports for personal use are limited in a similar fashion to alcohol or tobacco in Australia. Australia’s Northern Territory does have a ban to supply or possess kava because it was used as a substitute for alcohol in large quantities by locals. In New Zealand the trade is easier because of the large population of Polynesians living there. The International Kava Council is particularly active in Brussels (EU level), London as well as neighbouring New Zealand and Australia. A viable solution to for the relicensing of kava pharmaceuticals might be to reintroduce the export of raw kava for its further handling in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand through strict guidelines as to ensure the safe products for the consumers.  Some of the recommendations made by the kava producing countries are i) the usage of underground roots and the peeled stump as opposed to leaves, stems and basal stems, ii) give water soluble kava extracts preference over those extracted with chemical solvents, and iii) define and establish standards for a recommended daily dosage of kavalactones . Kava producing countries are likewise negotiating with the FAO to include kava-kava in the list of foodstuff so it can be treated just like any other alimentary product . The Pacific African Caribbean Pacific (PACP) Kava Initiative to resolve outstanding issues on Kava wistfully calls upon the EU to finance with about ca. € 11 million , a “Kava Sustainability Plan” which ought to include the reintroduction of kava-containing pharmaceuticals to the markets of the EU countries with present restrictions on it. The negotiations take place in the framework of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. If the EU is willing to finance such developmental programme remains to be seen.    

By Michael Duke of Mecklenburg

To introduce the House of Mecklenburg (-Strelitz), one has to know that it is of Slavic decent; the only one amongst the formerly reigning German princely houses. The first time the name Mecklenburg is documented was on September 10^th 995.  In the 12^th century at the time of tribal leader Niklot (100-1160), Prince of the Obotrites, the princely family and its tribe were Christianised by Heinrich the Lion (1129-1195), Duke of Saxony and Bavaria. Mecklenburg became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1170; it became a Dukedom in 1348. As time passed on (1621) the house was split into the branch of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow. The line of Mecklenburg-Güstrow died out in 1695 and the main ducal line Mecklenburg-Schwerin was split a last time into the branches of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1701. The line Mecklenburg-Strelitz had great difficulty to find its way, due to the burning down of their first castle in Strelitz in 1712, creating a great amount of debt. As it was a small state of approximately 3.000 square kilometres, it was not politically important and had only a little income. Nonetheless, at the end of the 18^th century the situation changed dramatically. Duke Carl (1741-1816) became an influential prince of the Holy Roman Empire through par alliance. His sister, Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) married King George III. of Great Britain, Hannover and Ireland (1738-1820). Later his own daughters Luise (1776-1810) and Frederike (1778-1841) married the crown prince and later King Friedrich Wilhelm III. of Prussia (1770-1840) and his brother Friedrich Ludwig. However, later Frederike married Ernst August (1771-1851), later King of Hannover. The Congress of Vienna raised the Mecklenburg-Strelitz monarch to the rank of Grand Duke on June 28^th 1815. As Grand Duke Carl died in 1816, his son Georg (1779-1860) continued the line. The close family and diplomatic relations between Mecklenburg (-Strelitz) and Prussia made it possible for the Prussian Kingdom to build a railway through Mecklenburg-Strelitz on costs of the Prussian state. At the time, the latter helped Mecklenburg-Strelitz to decrease its debt and taxes as well as to industrialise. Grand Duke Georg’s children further enlarged the importance. His second son, Georg August (1824-1876) married into the Russia Imperial Family becoming son in law of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (1798-1849), brother of Emperor Nikolas I. of Russia (1796-1855). Georg August’s brother, the Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm (1819-1904) married the Princess Augusta of Cambridge (1822 –1916), granddaughter of the British monarch George III. – further deepening the ties between Britain and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. At that time, the family became well off becoming one of the top ten richest families in Europe. Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1876-1934) married Queen Wilhelmina (1880-1962) of the Netherlands in 1901, and thus became Prince Consort of the Netherlands; he is the Great-grandfather of the present King of the Netherlands. Often the members of the Grand Ducal House went abroad for education. For instance, the last reigning Duke Gustav Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1633-1695) was a student in Leiden approximately 1649/1650, Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1748-1785) was a student at Leiden University approximately 1764 (at which I am currently studying as well) before serving in the Royal Navy and the Austrian army. Grand duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz studied and became Doctor of civil law of the University of Cambridge. Duke Carl Michael of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1863-1934) studied and became Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Strasbourg.  Additionally, Duchess Donata of Mecklenburg-Schwerin’s daughter Alix von Solodkoff studies in Maastricht. Studying the connections to other reigning houses gives an impression of the diplomatic relevance of the Mecklenburg House. The territorial sovereignty was lost party in 1871, completely in 1918. The Grand ducal family of both lines were exiled in Denmark and went back to Mecklenburg in the 1920s. In the period of the Third Reich (1933-1945) the Mecklenburg-Strelitz family endured great difficulties again as private property was intentionally burned down by Nazi sympathisers, or bombed during the war. The head of the house (my great-grandfather) was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen-Concentration Camp (KZ) in 1944. His son was captured (my grandfather) by the Gestapo. Nonetheless, as the situation has cleared up, the family is again reinforcing old connections as well as making new ones.

On 17th July, Maarten Greve, Senior Manager of Government & Industry Affairs at KLM, visited the Embassy of Colombia in the Netherlands to inform about the company’s decision to flight back to Colombia with the circle flights Amsterdam – Bogotá – Cali – Amsterdam. This is evidence of Colombia’s great advancement and the growing relations between Colombia and the Netherlands. As KLM stated, the airline will start to fly on the 31st of March 2015 three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) by operating a 777-200 Boeing to Bogota and Cali, and will be the only European airline flying to Cali. The return of KLM in Colombia – who operated the Bogota route from October 1992 until March 1995 – is due to the rapid growth of the Colombian economy, the international impact, and the new image of a more peaceful country with a promising economic future. The operating 777-200 Boeing will have the capacity to have 318 passengers and two types of class services: business class and economy class. The World Business Class or Business Class, will have 35 seats, and the economy Class will have 283 seats, of which 34 are Economy Comfort. The price of the ticket in low and mid-season will be approximately of 1.000 USD including tax (about 1,900,000 COP). Furthermore, KLM will transport as cargo perishable products such as flowers and vegetables, and products related to the sugar industry. It will also transport imports that can benefit the country , such as spare machinery parts for the sugar industry. The airline highlighted the importance of flying to Cali due to its proximity to the Buenaventura port and the coffee zone.

  By Dr. Luis Ritto,  former EU Ambassador to the Holy See and the Order of Malta and Former EU Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organisations. Emeritus Professor at the International School of Protocol & Diplomacy and expert on diplomacy, diplomatic protocol and world affairs. “Change is the law of life. And those who look to the past or present are certain to miss the future” – John F. Kennedy (1963). A new area in diplomacy that has seen a steady increase in its use in the past 20 years or so is the one of “digital diplomacy”. Also called “numerical diplomacy” by the French and “e-diplomacy” by the British, digital diplomacy describes a new method of conducting diplomacy and international relations with the help and support of the internet and other communication technologies (ICTs). A new method that is more inclusive, open and transparent than the diplomacy that was used in the past, which was more secretive and exclusive, working discretely behind closed doors. In fact, and as I wrote in my previous articles, diplomacy has evolved greatly in the past 100 years to become more public and open. Besides, it is managed nowadays by a great number of actors, like for example non-governmental organisations, elected politicians, cultural and trade organisations, academic experts and civil society organisations. This trend is there to stay and the new technologies of today are playing an important part in not only making diplomacy more efficient and cost-effective, but also by pushing it in the direction of being more open and transparent. Experts say that communication is the essence of diplomacy. Stearns, as quoted by Jönsson & Hall in their book called “Essence of Diplomacy”, goes as far as to say that “there has never been a good diplomat who was a bad communicator” (1). This being so, it is no surprise that the technologies of communication have always been used to improve the communication work of diplomats. And as technologies progress, so have progressed the communication tools of diplomacy. The use of ICTs has in particular improved the service delivery of Diplomatic Missions with limited staff and which have high demands for provision of information to the public, as we will discuss in more detail later on in this paper. To make my point clear, I think that it is worth to recall here how diplomatic communication has evolved over time and how it played a vital role in diplomacy. History books tell us that diplomatic communication dates as far back as two millennia. At that time it was rudimentary and mainly based on messengers and merchant caravans, who were charged to deliver the messages to the monarchs of other countries. The Greek city sates further developed communications, mainly in the 4^th and 5^th centuries BC, by using clay tablets and a cipher system for the protection of their messages. Messages in clay tablets are said to have been imported from Mesopotamia and were used for several centuries. Then in the Middle Ages (5^th to the 15^th centuries AC) the Papal diplomacy introduced parchments for diplomatic communication. The system of using parchments went on well into the Renaissance period, when the first resident diplomatic missions were established in Europe (first in the Principalities of Northern Italy and afterwards in other European countries). However, with the invention of the Guttenberg printing press (1450) the parchment was gradually replaced by printed documents, a system that is still in use today. Mainly since the Renaissance, diplomatic messages have been sent in sealed diplomatic bags (pouches) from one country to another. An important step in the modernisation of diplomatic communications came in the 19^th century (mainly after 1835) with the invention of the electric telegraph. It was a communication system that transmitted electric signals from location to location which translated into a message. By the end of the century it was possible to send messages from one continent to another (from the USA to Great Britain in Europe, for example). In a matter of decades, electrical telegraph networks allowed people and traders to transmit messages across continents and oceans almost instantly, with widespread social and economic impacts. The electric telegraph had also a major impact in the world of diplomacy. Foreign Ministries and Diplomatic Missions were connected to telegraph systems and could easily communicate between them (mainly via cryptic messages). Instructions could be sent rapidly and regularly by capitals to their Embassies around the world. Ambassadors could consult with their superiors and were not any more forced to take decisions on important matters on their own without having government approval. Key Embassies started to receive daily briefs from home, making it possible for diplomats there to swiftly convey messages to the officials in the countries in which they were posted. It was possible also for the first time for Ministries of Foreign Affairs to contact each other directly in cases of urgent need. The impact of the telegraph was therefore of major importance for diplomacy and it marked the beginning of what some historians call the system of modern diplomatic communication. After the telegraph, the telephone, which was introduced in the later part of the 19^th century, helped to further improve communications between countries and diplomatic envoys, thus adding to the speed and precision of communications. Then followed the fax system, especially after 1980. Fax, which means in fact facsimile and can also be called telecopying or telefax, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed materials (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer. The receiving fax machine interprets the tones and reconstructs the original image by printing it on a paper copy. The fax system was, before the internet arrived, a revolution in itself. The fact that it allowed for the transmission of documents and images from one part of the world to the other in a question of minutes, helped greatly to strengthen communication in the diplomatic world. For example, it become possible for a French Ambassador in Tokyo to sign a Treaty with the Japanese authorities and for the French Foreign Minister to receive a copy of it by telefax in Paris less than ten minutes later! Originals of important documents (briefs, minutes of meetings, legislation, speeches, official notes, treaties, protocols, verbal notes, press releases, cabinet memos, letters, reports of all sorts….) started to circulate by fax everywhere in diplomatic missions. Foreign Ministries in capitals made sure, using the fax, that Embassies in the five corners of the world received regularly (daily in many cases) updated information about the activities of the Ministries and the main decisions of the government. Indeed, the fax allowed Ambassadors to be informed promptly about any issue of importance for their work and to know the point of view of their governments on all issues of importance for their countries. Consular services also availed themselves of the fax system to receive copies of important documents from their capitals (birth and marriage certificates, passports and visas…), thus allowing those diplomatic missions to provide a faster and more reliable service to their citizens abroad. However, the best was still to come. And the best was the internet, which was introduced more than 20 years ago, especially after 1990. As all people know, the internet is, simply put, a global network connecting billions of people through computers. Better saying, it is a system of interconnected computer networks that use what is called “the internet standard protocol suite (or TPC/IP)” to link several billion devices worldwide. Diplomatic services everywhere have followed the trend and are now linked to the internet and rely on it for a variety of services (the most important being the e-mail) for their daily work. The importance of the internet and other new communication technologies (mobile phones, video-conferences, i-pads and i-pods…) is that they have overcome (more than other systems) the barriers of communication which include time and distance. E-mails facilitate instantaneous forwarding of even the most bulky documents and besides there is no waiting period for a person to receive the information sent to him. Moreover, their use allows for documents to be stocked easily in systems for future reference and use. And more than the fax, the internet has important research systems that allow for practically any matter in the world to be researched. The use of cell phones also aids instant consultations when in need of support during international negotiations. The wide scope of engagement in contemporary diplomacy and limited staff numbers of Diplomatic Missions has forced Foreign Ministries to use those ICT technologies to keep pace with new communication requirements. Besides, they allow for diplomatic resources to be pooled together, increases efficiency and capture economies of scale. Diplomats now use the internet to collect information and disseminate it, to report speedily to capitals, to send documents, to inform and engage the public and so forth (namely social networks like “Facebook” and “Twitter”). It must be remembered that the new technologies of communication are cost effective in the long run, especially when compared to other traditional means of communication such as air travel, fuel, snail mail and the logistical requirements of organising traditional meetings. If diplomacy is essentially about communication— as I mentioned at the beginning of this paper— it is also very much about negotiations. In fact, negotiations are another area which lies in the heart of diplomacy. Diplomats are constantly negotiating something (both bilaterally and internationally) on a growing number of subjects: from the laws of the sea to immigration, from scientific and cultural cooperation to trade, tourism and technology transfers, from the environment to food security, from security to police cooperation, from medicine security to improved health services, from research to academic cooperation, from poverty to economic development, from children to women rights, etc. Often many of these negotiations take place simultaneously making it difficult for countries to send people to follow them. This is particularly true for small countries, which have limited means especially in terms of human resources and cannot pay for all the travelling costs associated with them. The internet, through the Skype and the system of video-conferences, allows countries to overcome these problems and to follow far way conferences and seminars from capitals, making it possible also for the officials of those countries to intervene in them and to make their opinions known. On this issue, an example showing the importance of video-conferences is the one of a regional summit that was held in Africa in 2000 with the aim to solve the crisis in Burundi and Rwanda. President Bill Clinton could not travel to Africa at that time to attend that meeting, but he attended it from Washington with the aid of video-conference instruments, intervening in it and making his view points clearly known. He ended contributing decisively to the solution of the problems being discussed without having been physically in the conference hall in Africa. This is a major breakthrough which proves that virtual diplomacy is a reality in the world of today and can be used with efficiency. When talking about the internet there are two matters linked to it that must not be forgotten to be mentioned here: security and e-governance. The internet has led nations to build security systems allowing for the confidentiality of the information materials transmitted. Also the internet systems used in Diplomatic Missions are part of wider efforts by governments in terms of e-governance. For sheer lack of space, we cannot analyse in detail these two matters. What we can say is that the internet offers today a high level of security, as good as any other systems with secure encryption techniques. What happened for example with the information leaked through “Wikeleaks” has nothing to do with internet security as it was a failure of the US authorities to monitor the use of confidential information by the officials who had access to it. It was due to no failure of secure internet communications. By e-governance (or electronic governance) we mean in simple terms the employment of the internet and other electronic technologies to deliver official information and services to citizens and the general public. Its purpose is to provide government services online in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner. According to the UN, more than 100 countries in the world have adapted their working systems to the new electronic technologies and use e-governance to improve public services and their delivery. Diplomatic services have followed this trend and everywhere in the world Diplomatic Missions provide today efficient services online. In fact, most missions now have websites which provide information on travel (including immunisation information, common diseases, risky areas and contacts in case of medical emergency), visa application procedures and forms, etc. on their sites. A number of countries carry out online visa applications (including Canada, the UK and the United States of America), while others like Australia, Singapore, Cambodia and Kuwait even issue e-visas which has not only eased the process of visa processing but increased visits to such countries. The same happens with trade and investment matters and procedures. The use of the web as a source of information has also reduced substantially the number of people that visit Embassies and Consulates worldwide. This is an important change in terms of diplomatic working cultures as compared to the past. Conclusion We have tried to describe in this paper that a new era in diplomacy has developed in the recent past as a result of electronic means of communication. Digital diplomacy has opened a new world of cross-cultural communication and information that is more open and transparent than in the past and essentially based on soft power. In fact, ICTs have practically turned information into a source of power and influence. Whereas the methods of work of Foreign Ministries and Diplomatic Missions have essentially remained the same, the internet transformed communication from the traditional methods of information to the use of modern methods associated with instantaneous communication. Not the least, it has stimulated the missing part of an old dream that men always had: the access to information at anytime from anywhere. Diplomatic services have therefore explored the potentials of these new technologies (like the internet) for their own empowerment, in order to preserve their pivotal role in international relations. Through a well planned and well organised use of information technologies in a Foreign Ministry, a country —especially if it is a small state— can cope with a great number of challenges and stay informed of developments and emerging trends in modern diplomacy. Only a century and a half ago, wind-powered sailing vessels served as the means of diplomatic communication. They were followed by steamships. Then communications evolved with the arrival of the telegraph, the telephone and air mail as the main systems of diplomatic correspondence. Nowadays the great revolution in diplomatic communication is due to the computer and to electronic means of communication, which allow for such communication to be more rapid, sure and efficient. Many things which once required a physical presence are now possible to exist in a virtual fashion. Diplomacy is not an exception. The impact of the new information and communication technologies on modern diplomacy has been profound and with deep repercussions. The main areas within diplomacy in which technology has had a major influence and impact are diplomatic missions, negotiations and communication, as this paper clearly shows. Virtual diplomacy has improved the traditional diplomatic functions of missions, which are representation, negotiation, reporting, facilitation and coordination. It merges foreign and domestic policies and publics and allows diplomacy to occur through the media and information technologies. Virtual diplomacy is therefore a reality and it can be said that it has thus become a field of diplomacy in its own right. (1). Jönsson, C. and Hall, M. “Essence of Diplomacy” (Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005). Dr. Luis Ritto – Former EU Ambassador to the Holy See and the Order of Malta and Former EU Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organisations. ISPD Emeritus Professor and expert on diplomacy, diplomatic protocol and world affairs. Sources: Jönsson, C. and Hall, M. “Communication: Essential Aspect of Diplomacy” (Lund: Lund University, 2002). Rana, Kishan S. “21^st Diplomacy: A Practitioner’s Guide” (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011). Jönsson, C. and Hall, M. “Essence of Diplomacy” (Hapshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005). Nye, Joseph S. “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics” (New York: Public Affairs, 2004). Black, Jeremy “A History of Diplomacy” (London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 2011). Reus-Smit, C. and Snidal, Duncan “The Oxford Handbook of International Relations” (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). Berridge, G. “Diplomacy: Theory and Practice” (Hertforshire, Prentice Hall, 1995). Burton, J.W, “Systems, States, Diplomacy and Rules” (Cambdrige: Cambridge University Press, 1998).