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PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Diplomacy has always rested on two pillars: Institutional memory and individual craft. Elaborate.

  • UPSC 2026
  • 15 marks
  • Key Concepts in International Relations

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Ernest Mason Satow defined diplomacy in A Guide to Diplomatic Practice (1917) as "the application of intelligence and tact" to relations between independent states. The definition holds both pillars: intelligence that a foreign service stores over decades, and tact that only a negotiator can exercise in the room. Each fails when it stands alone.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • Institutional memory: what the state remembers
  • Individual craft: what the diplomat does
  • When one pillar stands alone
  • Conclusion
PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

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