The mission and the training of the contemporary diplomat. A comparative analysis of the Greek and French Diplomatic Services

Abstract

This thesis presents the mission and the training of a contemporary diplomat as well as displays, through a comparative analysis, the differences and commonalities between the Greek and French Diplomatic Services. Importantly, the present thesis discusses how the diplomatic world has changed and what implications these changes bring to the training of a diplomat as well as on the Diplomatic Services. Additionally, it is the first time that an effort was made to compare the Diplomatic Services of Greece and France in order to see how these two countries approach Diplomacy, what they consider important, what they pay attention to, and how they adjust their Services to the challenges of the modern world. The methodology selected for this goal was extensive research of relevant bibliography, as well as the information provided by both Ministries at their websites. Based on the information collected, we analyzed at the first section contemporary issues related to Diplomacy and the training diplomats get and at the second section we compared the two Diplomatic Services on a) their mission, b) entry requirements, c) their training and d) the career development. To conclude, it is observed that regardless of the changes and challenges Diplomacy has faced, the role of the diplomat remains at its core.