The art of a diplomat is to manipulate an opponent’s beliefs so that the opponent will not take action against the person that the diplomat represents.
The diplomat typically operates in a world where third party enforcement of formal rules does not apply. Thus, the diplomat can only constrain the action of the opponent by manipulating certain beliefs. These include the opponent’s beliefs about what diplomat’s side can be coerced into doing. If something is out of your control, you cannot be coerced into controlling it, for example.
The diplomat typically has to deal with the same opponents time and time again. Thus a good diplomat anticipates a whole future of interactions and a trajectory of beliefs. Sometimes, somewhere on the path, it becomes clear that the opponent’s beliefs are headed in a poor direction and you need to be creative to steer things somewhere else. It’s not so simple.
The art of the diplomat comes in handy almost every day. A person that you once offended moves into your town. You don’t avoid that person but rather find a way to make them believe that there was nothing to that offense and that there is nothing that they can get from you as reparation. This way you have no worries when you see that person in town.
