Diplomats vs. Locals

Abstract

This paper investigates the perception of diplomats by local inhabitants in the diplomatic quarter of Bern, Switzerland, well known as a ‘diplomatic site’. Through 16 semi-structured interviews with residents of the quarter, it was found that diplomats are perceived as a distant, separate community characterised by a lack of interest and effort to integrate into the host environment. In lieu of significant interactions, the perception was largely defined by the material dimensions of the diplomatic site and a generally positive understanding of diplomats. It is argued that this ambivalent, non-elitist, perception in Bern is two-dimensional, consisting of the personal, daily, spatially rooted, social experience of the diplomatic site situated within a wider societal narrative on diplomats and diplomacy, which should be accounted for in public diplomacy efforts. Future research should focus on investigating perceptions of diplomats outside of the diplomatic quarter to elucidate said societal narrative.