Foreign policy of a country is carried out by ministry of foreign affairs, embassies, consulates and international organizations.
Of course the success of foreign policy depends on political, military, strategic potential, territory, geopolitical position, population, reputation in the international community and other attributes of the country. But diplomatic mission and service is very important too. A country may have serious potential but have losses because of some diplomatic mistakes. And as well as a country that doesn’t have good potential may escape some problems and difficulties with the help of diplomatic appearance. There is a credo for experienced diplomats: diplomacy is intended not for providing victories for the country, but for helping the country to escape from all possible losses. This concept first of all concerns small countries.
In order to understand what diplomacy means, we shouldn’t understand it as foreign policy or international relations. From the classical point of view diplomacy is not foreign policy. These two categories help each other, but still are different categories.
Diplomacy is a tool for foreign policy. In other words it is a “profession”, and this service must be carried out by professionals that know even the small details of this “profession” in order to meet success. The method when decisions regarding foreign affairs are made by the top management of a country and then presented to the ministry of foreign affairs to realize is undermined. This is done in a lot of countries. The method when the ministry of foreign affairs takes part in the process of working out a decision regarding foreign affairs is more effective.