Some basic things we must know about presidential diplomacy

• First, presidents are the Diplomat-in-Chief, and this leads inevitably, for better or for worse, to "personal diplomacy." 
• Second, personal diplomacy is grounded not in the narcissism of presidential politics but rather in some practical realities.
• Third, minimizing leader-to-leader talks in an effort to "depersonalize" diplomacy is, in fact, another form of personal diplomacy (just as refusing to hold direct talks with adversaries is just another form of diplomacy).

By Peter Feaver, The challenges of presidential diplomacy, from Foreign Policy
FP, May 6, 2009. 

Photo: from the left to the right, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1913 - 1992), Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, and Anwar Sadat (1918 - 1981), President of Egypt. 12th September 1978. Camp David Accords.