Diplomacy is the management of relations between states through negotiation, representation and gesture. The October 2026 Windsor welcome for Oman’s Sultan showed its ceremonial wing: greetings, processions and a banquet creating the goodwill in which trade, defense and regional questions are later discussed. As officials often note, rooms in London do the paperwork of the UK–Oman relationship; Windsor performs the persuasion that makes agreement possible.
(Presidential Executive Office of Russia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0))
Mentioned in: Gun Salutes, Gilded Carriages and Centuries of Ritual: Why the Oman State Visit Matters