Trade and Diplomacy: The Belgian Case

Economic diplomacy is no brand new contemporary phenomenon. Since the early days, securing economic interests has always been one of the twin core tasks of diplomacy, alongside military or security diplomacy. Economic and military diplomacy can be viewed as two linked DNA-chains, alternately gaining prominence to the apparent detriment of the other, with the latter evidently not disappearing but temporarily taking a back seat. In the 1990s, economic diplomacy gained the upper hand. A 1998 survey has pointed out that ministries of foreign affairs all over the world were somewhat suddenly rediscovering the importance of economic diplomacy.1 Diplomats of many countries made no secret of the fact that their prime task was to look after the commercial interests of the state they represent. Ministries of foreign affairs (together or in competition with other departments) showed a remarkable aggressiveness with regard to bilateral commercial activities. Economic diplomacy in the 1990s...