The Case of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

This book focuses on the question of how national bilateral diplomacy is influenced and transformed by EU membership. It provides profound empirical evidence of the nature of this influence and the effect of this process. Its focus lies on the most classical element in the field of national bilateral diplomacy: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its network of diplomatic representations. This study’s object of investigation is Austria. Accordingly, it concentrates on developments and changes in Austria’s conduct of bilateral diplomacy during 20 years of EU membership. The investigation is conducted in the form of a case study, based on institutional theories of organisations and organisational analysis. In order to address developments in the field of bilateral diplomacy, the book considers structural elements, tasks and processes as well as elements of the professional identity of diplomats. Thereby, two fields of examination, bilateral diplomacy both inside and outside the EU, are analysed separately.