bridge

From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ (“bridge”), from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ (“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw- (“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).
Cognate with Scots brig, brigg, breeg (“bridge”), Saterland Frisian Brääch (“bridge”), West Frisian brêge (“bridge”), Dutch brug (“bridge”), German Brücke (“bridge”), Danish brygge (“wharf”), Icelandic brygga (“pier”), Gaulish briua (“bridge”).
The verb is from Middle English briggen, from Old English brycġian (“to bridge, make a causeway, pave”), derived from the noun. Cognate with Dutch bruggen (“to bridge”), Middle Low German bruggen (“to bridge”), Old High German bruccōn (“to bridge”) (whence Modern German brücken).
The musical connection sense is a semantic loan from German Steg, from Old High German steg.

ацҳа

construction or natural feature that spans a divide

if someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it

(diplomacy) A statement, such as an offer, that signals a possibility of accord.


CD

en-noun

CD (countable and uncountable, plural CDs)

Abbreviation of various terms and phrases.

Along the route to Tanyin flowed a fast stream of staff and C.D. cars.

1955, Graham Greene, The Quiet American:

Jake lengthened his stride and crossed the road in front of a double-parked car, large, black and with CD plates.

1978, Kingsley Amis, Jake's Thing, Vintage, published 2007, page 8:

corps diplomatique
corps diplomatique#English

(diplomacy, now rare) Initialism of corps diplomatique, the diplomatic corps of a particular country.


resident

From Middle English resident, from Anglo-Norman resident, from Latin residēns, present participle of resideō (“to remain behind, reside, dwell”), equivalent to reside + -ent, from re- (“back”) + sedeō (“I sit”). Doublet of resiant and rezident. The espionage sense is a semantic loan from Russian резиде́нт (rezidént).

semantic loan

(diplomacy) A diplomatic representative who resides in a foreign country, usually of inferior rank to an ambassador.


isolation

en-noun

isolation (countable and uncountable, plural isolations)

/ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/

First attested in 1800. From French isolation, from isolé, placed on an island (thus away from other people). Equivalent to isolate + -ion.

As of 1975, diplomatic ostracism is still imposed by the Organization of American States (OAS). The inter-American community also exercises a trade embargo against Cuba. But even within this context of hemispheric isolation, Havana’s diplomacy is strikingly contradictory.

1975, W. Raymond Duncan, “Problems of Cuban Foreign Policy, chapter 20”, in Irving Louis Horowitz, editor, Cuban Communism, 5th edition, Transaction, published 1985, page 486:

Israel could offer to ease North Korea’s isolation with diplomatic recognition, […] ¶ […] But Washington’s strategy of increasing North Korean isolation left no room for back-channel talks with Tel Aviv, […]

September 1993, Jon Brook Wolfsthal, “The Israeli initiative”, in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, volume 49, number 7, page 8:

It [Europe] now pressed Washington to begin direct talks with Tehran, but Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Rice’s point man on Iran, still stressed that diplomatic isolation of Iran—and not diplomatic engagement—was the only acceptable approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear challenge.

2009, Dore Gold, The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West, Regnery Publishing, →ISBN, page 49:

(diplomacy, of a country) The state of not having diplomatic relations with other countries (either with most or all other countries, or with specified other countries).

մեկ

diplomacy: state of not having diplomatic relations


ultimatum

ultimatum (plural ultimatums or ultimata)

From Latin ultimatus (“late, last final”), from Latin ultimus (“extreme, last, furthest, farthest, final”).

بِلَاغ نِهَائِيّ

a final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another

Ultimatum in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

. . . But he was directed to present a memorial, urging many reasons for the restitution of the captures made before the war, to represent in its full force, the benefit that would arise, both to France and England, from the total desertion of the war in Germany, and if England should refuse the conditions, now offered as an ultimatum, to wait for farther instructions.
The ultimatum arrived in London August 8. M. Buffy soon after wrote to Mr. Pitt, and in his answer, dated August 15, says, that, as to the stile of the ultimatum and letter, the king his master adheres both to the form and substance of them, he laments that peace appears by the proposals and conduct of France to be far distant, and retorts some charges and elusion and delay.
M. Buffy, and Mr. Pitt however, had a conference on the two ultimatums jointly, and on the 30th of August an answer to the French ultimatum was delivered, in which the French propositions are agreed to, except in the following particulars. . .

1762 The Annual Register or a View of the History, Politicks, and Literature of the Year 1761

1913 U.S. Naval War College: International Law Topics and Discussions
An ultimatum may be issued containing a demand for satisfaction. Such an ultimatum is usually formulated in diplomatic terms, which would not make it too difficult for the state to which it is dispatched to find a way to adjust the difficulties. The ultimatum usually fixes the time within which an answer must be made. The United States required that Spain reply to its demand for withdrawal of Spanish forces from Cuba within three days; i. e., by April 23. War was declared on April 25. An ultimatum in itself does not necessarily involve a declaration of war unless the failure to comply with the demands carries with it a conditional declaration of war.
The British demands upon Venezuela in 1902 required an immediate satisfaction of certain claims, and concluded: “ This communication must be regarded in the light of ultimatum.” The failure of Venezuela to satisfy these claims did not lead to an immediate war, but to an attempt to establish a pacific blockade which subsequently took the form of a true blockade.
Whatever the preliminary negotiations or evidences of strained relations which might have received consideration prior to 1907, among those states now parties to the convention relative to the opening of hostilities, it is now necessary that there be a previous and explicit warning.
This previous and explicit warning may take the form of a reasoned declaration of war or of an ultimatum with a conditional declaration of war.
The reasoned declaration of war was regarded by many as necessary or at least very desirable because the opposing belligerent should be given a formal statement of the grounds of the war and the neutrals should not suffer such great changes in their ordinary rights and obligations without knowledge of the reasons.
If instead of the reasoned declaration of war, the ultimatum with conditional declaration was employed, the reasons for the breaking off of peaceful relations would be stated in the ultimatum.

(diplomacy) A final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another, especially one that expresses a threat of reprisal or war if the terms are not met before some specified date and time.

1724 William Wynne: The Life of Sir Leoline Jenkins, Judge of the High-Court of Admiralty
. . . Thirdly, That they, the Dutch, 5 or 6 Weeks after they had received these Letters, (of 12th of July) call'd for an Ultimatum, so they termed the dernier mot, from us; and that we gave our Ultimatum to the Mediators first by Word of Mouth in August, then on the 5th of September, N. S. in writing.

(diplomacy, dated) An intended final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another in a negotiation.


normalization

en-noun

normalization (countable and uncountable, plural normalizations)

[ˌnoː.məˌlɑɪˈzæɪ.ʃn̩]

From normal + -ization or normalize + -ation.

Following the line pursued in recent months by President Mubarak, Mr. Ali said he was confident the peace treaty between the two former foes would presist^([sic]) and "create a good atmosphere for normalizations of relations in the coming months and years."

1982 April 25, William E. Farrell, “LOW-KEY CEREMONIES SET FOR SINAI TRANSFER TODAY”, in The New York Times:

On my first trip to China after normalization, I saw firsthand the possibility of leveraging Deng Xiaoping’s very real fear of the Soviets to gain specific intelligence aid from the People’s Republic of China.

2007, Joe Biden, “This Can't Hurt Us”, in Promises to Keep, New York: Random House, published 2008, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 143:

(diplomacy) Process of establishing normal diplomatic relations between two countries.


eschatocol

Borrowed from Byzantine Greek ἔσχατοκολλον (éskhatokollon, “last sheet glued onto a manuscript”), from ἔσχατον (éskhaton) + κόλλα (kólla, “glue”).

bor

ἔσχατοκολλον

(diplomacy) The final section of a document, often involving a formulaic close (e.g. “Yours faithfully”), the date and location of writing, and information on the document's originators e.g. author, counter-signer, witnesses present, etc.


aide-mémoire

en-noun

aide-mémoire (plural aide-mémoires or aides-mémoire)

aide-mémoires (plural)
aides-mémoire (plural)

Unadapted borrowing from French aide-mémoire (literally “memory aid”).

ubor

In August, Finance Minister Larry Howai signed an aide-mémoire with the IDB for the bank to provide funding and expertise to the government to develop its Public/Private Sector Partnership Programme (PPP).

2013 November 15, Trinidad Express, “IDB tells T&T: Fix procurement laws”, in Trinidad Express:

(diplomacy) A document circulated in a meeting or summit for discussion purposes.


identic

en-adj

identic (comparative more identic, superlative most identic)

more identic (comparative)
most identic (superlative)

From French identique, from Medieval Latin identicus (“the same”), from Latin identi-, from idem (“the same”).

The English and French Governments had, on the 6th January, 1882, given to the Khedive an assurance of their support in an “identic declaration,” since known as the “dual note,” […]

1887, J. F. Maurice, The Campaign of 1882 in Egypt, page 1:

The Department on March 5, 1909, notified the countries represented at the Naval Conference of its intention to prepare and transmit an identic circular note dealing with this question, and on October 18, 1909, an elaborate identic circular note [was prepared].

1916, James Brown Scott, An International Court of Justice: Letter and Memorandum, page 12:

While Britain blew cold the French blew hot and proposed to Britain that she should join in an identic note to Russia, but Palmerston's view was that the Polish affair was coming to a close: An identic note is good for a definite and positive […]

1969, R. F. Leslie, Reform and insurrection in Russian Poland, 1856-1865, page 199:

(diplomacy, obsolete) Precisely agreeing in sentiment or opinion and form or manner of expression; applied to concerted action or language used by two or more governments in treating with another government.


désintéressement

Borrowed from French désintéressement (“disinterest, detachment”).

bor+

She demanded, among other things, the whole of S. Tirol, with the boundaries of the Italian kingdom of 1811, Gorizia and Gradisca, and the conversion of Trieste with its surrounding territory into a community independent of Austria-Hungary; […] and a declaration of Austria-Hungary’s désintéressement as regards Albania.

1922, Alfred Francis Pribram, “Austrian Empire”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, 12th edition, volume 30, page 336:

P.M. said he had foreseen this, and to meet it, and stop it, had idea that we should put before France, Poland and Soviet a text of a declaration of non-désinteressement.

1939 March 19, Alexander Cadogan, edited by David Dilks, The Diaries of Sir Alexander Cadogan: 1938–45, published 1971, page 161:

The fact that the Russian government had reacted reluctantly and had apparently been surprised by the velocity of the events unfolding was interpreted as Russian désintéressement.

2015, Klaus Bachmann, “Playing on Three Levels at the Same Time – German Public Opinion and German Foreign Policy Toward the Crisis in Ukraine”, in Karol Kujawa, Valeriy Morkva, editors, 2014 Crisis in Ukraine: Perspectives, Reflections, International Reverberations, →ISBN:

He [Charles Hardinge] was therefore less inclined to be concerned about the Afghanistan question and with regard to the Near East and the Balkans considered a demonstrative policy of ‘désintéressement’ on England’s part to be the best solution.

2017, Andreas Rose, translated by Rona Johnston, Between Empire and Continent: British Foreign Policy before the First World War, →ISBN, page 38:

(diplomacy) Neutrality; renunciation of involvement or (especially territorial) ambitions.


chargé d'affaires

en-noun

chargé d'affaires (plural chargés d'affaires)

/ʃɑrˈʒeɪ dəˈfɛɹ/

Unadapted borrowing from French chargé d’affaires (literally “[one] charged with matters”).

ubor

(diplomacy) A diplomat, ranking below an ambassador, who heads a diplomatic mission when no ambassador is present, either temporarily (in the interim between the departure of one ambassador and the accreditation of another) or for an extended time.


maximalist

en-adj

maximalist (comparative more maximalist, superlative most maximalist)

more maximalist (comparative)
most maximalist (superlative)

From maximal + -ist, by analogy with minimalist.

Mr. Schmidt agreed that “both the Russians and the Americans want results,” but he warned that they have a long way to go from “maximalist” starting positions.

1981 November 29, Helmut Schmidt, quotee, “Nuclear Theater”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Jo Leinen, 35 years old, a spokesman for the protest coalition, said today that the Soviet-American arms limitation talks in Geneva are a failure, and blamed the Reagan Administration for having taken “a maximalist position” that doomed the negotiations.

1983 October 14, James M. Markham, “West Germans Start Missile Protests”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Administration diplomats have by now grown used to such maximalist posturing and they doubt that North Korea will go so far as to undermine the nuclear deal.

1995 February 10, “High-Risk Bargaining by North Korea”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

So Britain seems to have two foreign policies, a maximalist one based on illusions of the imperial past, and a minimalist one based on fears of the domestic future. It is time some-one put them together.

1997 October 22, Roy Denman, “British Foreign Policy: Riding Off in Two Directions at Once”, in International Herald Tribune, →ISSN:

[…] Truman would not make available the resources and the manpower to fix the problem. He had a maximalist moment—and a maximalist document—before him. He was not ready to back a maximalist policy.

2014, Stephen Sestanovich, Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama, Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 49:

White’s detention ratchets up the rising tension between Iran and the US, which under Trump has pursued a maximalist campaign against Tehran that includes pulling out of its nuclear deal with world powers.

2019 January 9, “Iran confirms it has detained US navy veteran Michael White”, in The Guardian:

The Ukrainian government has noted Mr. Putin has never backed away from his maximalist demands, interpreting the goal of “demilitarizing” and “de-Nazifying” Ukraine as halting Western military assistance and installing a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.

2024 February 9, Paul Sonne, Anton Troianovski, “Putin to U.S.: Let’s Make a Deal on Ukraine (on My Terms)”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(politics, diplomacy) Aggressive, expansive.


antidumping

Instead, it relied on antidumping actions to combat what it said were unfair Chinese trade practices.

2007 April 2, David Lague, “China Says New U.S. Duty Disrupts Relations”, in New York Times:

(economics, trade, diplomacy) Intended to combat or prevent dumping, the sale of goods below cost for anticompetitive purposes

antidumping

intended to combat or prevent dumping, the sale of goods below cost


separate peace

(diplomacy) Peace concluded between enemies that has no impact on the relationships of either with the other's allies or cobelligerents.


most favored nation

en-noun

most favored nation (plural most favored nations)

(trade, diplomacy) A nation accorded a certain level of treatment in international trade. When a nation A is a most favored nation of another nation, B, then B undertakes not to treat A any less favorably (in terms of taxes, exports, etc.) than any of B's other most favored nations.


pro memoria

Borrowed from Latin pro memoria (literally “for memory”).

bor

en:nonformalized document for discussion in diplomacy


clientitis

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-clientitis.wav

Their relationship with the governments in their region is usually one of warmth and understanding, often described as “clientitis” or “clientism.”

1990, Iain Guest, Behind the Disappearances: Argentina's Dirty War Against Human Rights and the United Nations, University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN:

We also learned two new words: “clientitis” and “ambassadoritis”. Clientitis is the disease of those enthralled by a host country that they promote its interests, rather than their own country's.

2009, Vera Blinken, Donald M. Blinken, Vera and the Ambassador, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 58:

In the case of diplomats, the State Department has had to wrestle with criticisms that regional specialists—say, those who concentrate on the Arab world and speak Arabic—will suffer from “clientitis”: the disease of “going native,” of developing such sympathy for the people and culture of a given region that one begins to represent its interest to America rather than vice versa.

2011, John Lenczowski, Full Spectrum Diplomacy and Grand Strategy: Reforming the Structure and Culture of U.S. Foreign Policy, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 108:

(diplomacy, slang) The situation where an organization's resident in-country staff come to regard the officials and people of the host country as "clients", and thus lose touch with the norms and aims of their home country.


collective note

en-noun

collective note (plural collective notes)

The undersigned, ministers for Russia, Germany, the United States, Great Britain, and France, have the honor to refer to their collective note of the 24th February, in which they expressed their desire to have an audience of His Majesty the Emperor of China for the purpose of presenting their congratulations to His Majesty, and requested his imperial highness to move His Majesty to issue orders for their reception.

1873, United States Department of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, page 156:

On the other hand, French Foreign Minister Delcassé thought that this collective note would be more effective and successful if all the European Powers joined it.

2011, Pinar Senisik, The Transformation of Ottoman Crete, →ISBN:

A collective note was sent to Germany on the interpretation of Article 16.

2015, Willard N. Hogan, International Conflict and Collective Security, →ISBN, page 65:

(diplomacy) A formal piece of diplomatic correspondence signed by the representatives of several governments addressed to one or more other governments.


special relationship

Very satisfactory indeed. We got what we came for, and our special relationship is still very special.

2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by US president (Billy Bob Thornton):

(diplomacy, politics) The political and diplomatic relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom beginning in the World War II era.


CFA

Cooperative Framework Agreement
w:Nile Basin Initiative

(diplomacy) Initialism of Cooperative Framework Agreement.


walk back the cat

en-verb

walk back the cat (third-person singular simple present walks back the cat, present participle walking back the cat, simple past and past participle walked back the cat)

walks back the cat (present singular third-person)
walking back the cat (participle present)
walked back the cat (participle past)
walked back the cat (past)

(diplomacy) To back down; to adopt a position where one is more willing to compromise.


polylateral

Polylateral ventures with the media can allow foreign ministries to professionalise their public diplomacy.

2019, Yolanda Kemp Spies, Global South Perspectives on Diplomacy, →ISBN, page 189:

(diplomacy) involving multiple parties, including nonstate actors


DCM

en-noun

DCM (countable and uncountable, plural DCMs)

deputy chief of mission
w:deputy chief of mission

(diplomacy, countable) Initialism of deputy chief of mission.


letter of credence

letter of credence (plural letters of credence)

(diplomacy) Formal diplomatic letter that appoints a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state.


put facts on the ground

en-verb

put facts on the ground (third-person singular simple present puts facts on the ground, present participle putting facts on the ground, simple past and past participle put facts on the ground)

puts facts on the ground (present singular third-person)
putting facts on the ground (participle present)
put facts on the ground (participle past)
put facts on the ground (past)

Used by early leaders of the Zionist movement to refer to staking a claim to disputed land in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

And while people are dithering, the cloning research in the private biotech industries will put facts on the ground that will be difficult to challenge. Only a moratorium can test the good faith of those who say they want regulation.

2002 July 7, Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry, Washington, D.C.: President's Council on Bioethics, →ISBN, page 278:

Its commanding influence in the signature and future ratification of the CFA, and its attempt to put facts on the ground through hydraulic structures, has brought the relationship between Ethiopia and Egypt to its lowest level since the establishment of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

2013 September 11, Flavia Rocha Loures, Alistair Rieu-Clarke, The UN Watercourses Convention in Force: Strengthening International Law for Transboundary Water Management, Oxford: Routledge, →ISBN, page 191:

"It's a message ... that we can also put facts on the ground," said Palestinian-American developer Bashar Masri, using a phrase associated with Israel's settlement construction on lands the Palestinians want for a state.

2013 December 5, “First planned Palestinian city a symbol of pride”, in AP News, Associated Press:

Samuel Bagenstos, a law professor at the University of Michigan, suggested that the Yale finding was motivated by "the almost certain fear by Trump administration officials that there's at least a substantial likelihood that come January, they won't be here. So they want to put facts on the ground, to try them in a potential Biden administration."

2020 August 14, Anemona Hartocollis, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, “Yale Decision: Justice Dept. Ruling Stings Students”, in The New York Times:

(idiomatic, especially diplomacy) To quietly or incrementally change the de facto situation in one's favor in order to win a legal dispute.


hostage diplomacy

(diplomacy) Diplomatic relations, by detention of foreigners to affect other goals, such as using arrests to influence the implementation of amenable foreign political decisions, or prisoner swaps.


commodity diplomacy

(diplomacy) Diplomatic relations, by controlling trade to affect other goals, such as using trade barriers to influence the implementation of amenable foreign political decisions.


PNTR

(trade, diplomacy) Initialism of permanent normal(ized) trade relations.


friendshoring

(business, economics, finance, politics, diplomacy) The process of moving production to diplomatically friendly or allied foreign locations which have lower production costs.


penultimatum

en-noun

penultimatum (plural penultimatums or penultimata)

penultimatums (plural)
penultimata (plural)

Blend of penultimate + ultimatum, equivalent to pene- + ultimatum.

1796 French Laurence in correspondence with Edmund Burke
To what point of degradation ministers can yet sink, I cannot guess. Far be it from me to limit their genius for the bathos of diplomacy. It is said, however, in some of their papers, that they have sent final instructions. I fear they are like a set of strolling players: "The last night," — "positively the last night," — "the very last night,” — “the last night without fail;" — creeps on with petty pace from day to day. Ultimatum follows ultimatum; till, by and by, you get to a penultimatum, and that leads to the beginning of a negotiation.

(diplomacy, chiefly humorous) A statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another, commonly expressed as an ultimatum in the hopes of compelling immediate compliance with demands, but that then is superseded by more negotiation instead of actual dire consequences.


antepenultimatum

antepenultimatum (plural antepenultimatums or antepenultimata)

antepenultimatums (plural)
antepenultimata (plural)

THE RUSSIAN ULTIMATUM. We are constantly hearing of some fresh ultimatum being proposed by the Russian Government, so that what was considered a fortnight since the real ultimatum, must, now that another has been offered, be called the penultimatum; and next week, when a third one will probably have been suggested, we shall find that the original ultimatum was, in fact, only an antepenultimatum.

1853 Diogenes - Issue 2706, Volume 2 - Page 14

1898 Ambrose Bierce: Fantastic fables
"If you do not submit my claim to arbitration," wrote the President of Omohu to the President of Modugy, "I shall take immediate steps to collect it in my own way!"
"Sir," replied the President of Modugy, "you may go to the devil with your threat of war."
"My great and good friend," wrote the other, "you mistake the character of my communication. It is an antepenultimatum."

(diplomacy, commonly satirical) A statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another, essentially a penultimatum, but even more tentative and more repeatedly abandoned in favour of subsequent ignominious compromises.


letter of recall

letter of recall (plural letters of recall)

(diplomacy) formal correspondence from one head-of-state notifying a second head-of-state that he or she is recalling their state's ambassador.


resident-general

(diplomacy) A high-ranking resident (diplomatic representative residing in a foreign country).