The Future of the U.S. Diplomatic Representations after the Case of Benghazi: The Brittle Relationship between Security and Diplomacy

Abstract

ABSTRACTOne of the conditions for the development of diplomacy is the existence of a peaceful climate. To create this, diplomatic missions and agents should enjoy some privileges and immunities granted by the receiving state. Since the late 1970s, the emergence of violent non-state groups is changing the conception of security, and this transformation has a direct effect on diplomatic relations. We have selected three crises that span the relationship between diplomacy and security between diplomacy and security. The first one occurred in 1979 in Tehran, the second started in 1983 in the Lebanon finishing in East Africa 15 years later, and the last of these crises took place in Benghazi, with the attack on the American consulate in 2012. Each crisis has caused a shift in the paradigm of diplomatic security. The measures adopted by the U.S. Department of State to prevent future attacks, far from solving the problem, are threatening the future of diplomacy.