Diplomatic summits' challenges --- I've had the chance to work at a various multilateral summits, and this example reminded me of the G20 in Los Cabos, in 2012. Back then, I was surprised to discover that probably one of the most challenging moments of a multilateral summit (that is, that involves heads of state and/or government) is the arrival of the delegations. If you have 20+ delegations, coming each with its own caravan and its own security detail, to be welcomed by the same person (another HoS/G), you need a looot of time, like 5 - 7 min per delegation, so 1 hr 40 min in total? So, nobody wants to be the first one to arrive and be waiting inside for this whole procedure to unfold. Local Protocol works out the order of arrival (it could be precedence, it could be alphabetically, there are different ways to obtain your preferred outcome). That's one of the toughest negotiations in a summit, and there's always someone unhappy who breaks protocol and arrives pretty much at the time he/she pleases. Maybe this was the case with Berlusconi? So, he's breaking the first rule maybe because he perceived someone else broke rule 2/3?

Source author: Alejandra Mayela Martinez Silva ammartinez@sre.gob.mx