This article argues that interpersonal commitment is statespersons’ most highly coveted aim, the greatest benefit that interpersonal relations can yield in diplomacy. Accordingly, statespersons employ a range of relational practices in encounters with counterparts, seeking to create and harness commitment that will advance professional aims. We argue that statespersons can follow one of two paths to generate commitment: (1) creating feelings of gratitude and providing help that makes a counterpart feel indebted; or (2) cultivating friendly relations. Both demand the successful implementation of relational practices. On the basis of thirty semistructured interviews with past and present senior Israeli statespersons and an analysis of fifteen autobiographies written by senior Israeli diplomats and political figures, we demonstrate to what extent statespersons acknowledge the importance of interpersonal commitment and its ramifications; identify the relational practices that statespersons employ to elicit commitment from a counterpart; and discuss the conditions that facilitate the emergence of such a commitment. We conclude by discussing the differences between thin and thick interpersonal commitments and underlining the importance of interpersonal relations in diplomacy.

中文翻译：

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人际承诺：面对面外交的隐藏力量

本文认为，人际承诺是政治家最向往的目标，是人际关系在外交中所能带来的最大利益。因此，政治家在与同行会面时采用了一系列关系实践，寻求建立和利用承诺来推进职业目标。我们认为，政治家可以通过以下两种途径之一来产生承诺：（1）创造感激之情并提供帮助，使对方感到感激； (2) 培养友好关系。两者都要求关系实践的成功实施。基于对过去和现在以色列高级政治家的三十位半结构化访谈以及对以色列高级外交官和政治人物撰写的十五本自传的分析，我们证明了政治家在多大程度上承认人际承诺的重要性及其影响；确定国家人员为获得对应方承诺而采用的关系做法；并讨论促进这种承诺出现的条件。最后，我们讨论了薄弱的人际关系承诺和厚重的人际关系承诺之间的差异，并强调了人际关系在外交中的重要性。