Traditional diplomacy: Do you think the ‘old’ diplomacy has any contemporary relevance?

I would say that new Diplomacy, is not really that new, but rather a developed version of the Old Diplomacy. 

The ‘old’ diplomacy was conducted mostly on a bilateral basis( state to state agreements and negotiations). However the roles of traditional institutions and diplomatic relations have changed, with globalization, new technologies and  non-governmental organisations(NGOs).  " Even if foreign policy professionals regard themselves as leaders in the practice of diplomacy, they have to admit that they share that practice with a lot more players. Diplomacy has become democratized. The technology allows more people to play, many of them non-experts or interest groups with individual issues to pursue, as it increases the size of the playing field by an almost exponential amount, and it changes the rules every day"(Richard Grant)

The internet, which allows information to be available very fast and to many people, might mean that diplomats are no needed, however the accuracy of the information is not always clear." the diplomat is more likely to trust reliable sources known to him\her already. The diplomat will want to rely on informed advice from colleagues in embassies around the world,who will themselves be discovering the information on their screens."(Richard Grant)

Even though the outline of immediate events is useful, it can also cause problems. " The genocides in Rwanda and the conflicts in the Balkans in recent years were both known to the world quickly, some of it in real time, but that did not help individual governments, or international organisations, to react with corresponding speed. In both cases, the knowledge of the events rapid and world-wide was met with an uneasy political reaction across the developed world, which combined to make the policy reaction slow and cumbersome."(Richard Grant)

 

"The new technologies will not usurp the rationale for diplomacy and for diplomats, but there is evidence that the flows of information are putting pressures on existing structures and procedures of information management. There will continue to be a need for intermediaries in the interaction of states, whether it be a bilateral, regional or multilateral framework. We should not confuse the message and the messengers.

What is clear is that the way diplomacy is conducted is changing and changes implies adaptation. Foreign services across the world are all faced, to one degree or another, by the challenges of the changing environment."(Richard Grant)

The rise of summitry and the involvement of political leaders has also changed diplomacy( G8 summit). The involvement of states leaders undermine the existence of diplomats.