Diplomats at the frontline should expand their role in preventing armed conflicts

National diplomats posted in missions abroad can use their country expertise and personal networks to persuade involved parties against escalating violence in incipient armed conflicts, argued Gerrit Kurtz at the International Studies Association’s Annual Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16. The willingness of diplomats to engage in the early prevention of armed conflicts depends largely on their socialization into humanitarian norms of their home country as well as their career incentives, according to Kurtz.