territories

territories

Friday, October 7, 2011

Mobile, Temporal, Immune

Vehicular - Diplomatic vehicles are immune to ordinary traffic regulations in whichever state they reside in. Prohibitions on parking, speeding, etc. do not apply. The city regularly protests the Department of State about millions of dollars worth of unpaid fees.

1 comment:

  1. I like this example because it has to do with an absence of negotiation or interaction. The diplomat because of the important work that he does (which we're skeptical of in the first place nowadays) is immune to common law of the hosting state- including his property or car. By removing himself from consequences that a citizen would face, the diplomat suddenly gains a huge amount of power, creating a tenuous differential between the diplomat and the people who he is there to be diplomatic with. Seeding this kind of distrust and difference or absense of consequences seems counterproductive to the diplomatic model. Is this not in a way spitting upon the values of the host country? (Ok maybe that's a little harsh- but hopefully you get what I mean).

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