The Ottoman Attitude toward Diplomacy

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Ottoman attitude toward diplomacy as an institution of the modern international system as it emerged from its European basis via the formation of the European states system. The distinctive nature of diplomacy as an institution of the modern international system is said to be the establishment of resident embassies first in the Italian city-states and then at other European courts. The Ottoman attitude toward resident diplomacy has been described as at best exclusive and repudiatory, at worst dismissive and derisory. In this chapter, those orthodox views have been critically examined and it has been suggested that it is more meaningful and historically correct to describe the Ottoman attitude toward diplomacy as favourable and not formally but practically reciprocating.