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Changes in Consular Assistance and the Emergence of Consular Diplomacy
February 4, 2010. The latest issue in the Clingendael Diplomacy Paper series, by Clingendael Research Fellow Maaike Okano-Heijmans, analyses the consequences of change in individual and collective (crisis) assistance by foreign ministries, arguing that consular activity increasingly has the potential of being 'upgraded' to a diplomatic matter that becomes a concern in relations between two (or more) countries. Okano-Heijmans finds that as consular challenges grow and government funding decreases, foreign ministries in the years ahead need a forward-looking consular diplomacy strategy to balance the tension between securing national interests and protecting the narrow interests of individual citizens. The paper is published by the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme. Download PDF »