Description
Trust is a key ingredient of diplomacy in multilateral engagements and environments. Yet whilst the issue of trust at state level is well addressed, diplomatic trust relations at individual and organisational level remain less well understood, and much of the focus to date has concerned formal trust-building mechanisms and activity. However, everyday diplomatic interactions provide vital lubrication to the international and multilateral political and diplomatic machine. The use of informal trust building opportunities becomes especially significant in a multilateral environment like Brussels in which there are insiders and outsiders, major and minor players, veterans and newcomers. This paper looks at the role of informal trust building activity by diplomatic outsiders, newcomers, and those referred to as ‘repeat offenders’ who return to the same posting. The different approaches are considered in respect of the importance of this type of trust-building work in fostering relationships, cutting through diplomatic red lines and moving past political noise going forward.
Drawing upon a data set of 52 interviews with diplomats and EU insiders in the Brussels bubble, this analysis informs the identification of key practice-level opportunities, challenges and implications in relation to the variable diversity, presence and absence of opportunities for informal trust building for different communities of diplomatic actors in Brussels.
