Diplomat as an Actor and Object of Migration Processes

ABSTRACT

This article presents the case study of a diplomatic – migration experience of a diplomat in bilateral diplomatic practice with an aim to check if there are common characteristics of diplomats and migrants, on the basis of which we could also define diplomats as migrants. Additionally, we try to prove that professional mobility of diplomats between foreign ministry and diplomatic missions is also a specific form of migration and not only mobility as such. Our analysis stems originally from a broader research project, which was concluded among Slovene diplomats, and is upgraded with a personal experience of a Slovene diplomat, who was observed in three different bilateral diplomatic postings

/ environments. This paper brings also a pioneering methodological example, where the observed  and interviewed diplomat is not only an object of a case study, but also an actor of the analysis and interpretation.

KEY WORDS: diplomat, migration, circular migration, temporary migration, bilateral diplomacy