What exactly is a Diplomat?

wenteast

Wing Ding has a good answer, and a lot of time on his/her hands.

Angelo D doesn't have a clue -- diplomats' luggage gets screened just like everyone else's. He's thinking of the Diplomatic Pouch, which is how official correspondence is transported. That indeed is inviolable -- but it is totally different from it being our "luggage."

Ying Ding Aing

A diplomat is a person who works for one government inside another country. In the past it was a single person plus personal staff, nowadays embassies from non-corrupt countries are usually staffed by a team of career diplomats, led by an ambassador who is either appointed directly by the chief executive, or promoted out of the diplomatic service.

The diplomats represent and conduct negotiations on behalf of their country inside the host country, and often (especially at lower levels) specialize into one of several possible roles. These include:
consular work: while technically separate from 'diplomats' in terms of immunity status and treaties, consular workers are usually member of the diplomatic service and enjoy most diplomatic privileges at least informally. They are concerned with the situations of citizens of their country in the host country, providing legal advice, replacing passports, certifying overseas marriage licenses, etc, and also handle visas of foreigners in the host country wishing to travel to their country.
economic workers: typically represent their countries' business interests in the host country. If there is a trade deal in the works that would adversely affect their countries' steel firms, for example, they argue that for an amendment to the deal on behalf of those firms. They also help firms from their country set up shop in the host country, and generally involve themselves on trade issues.
public affairs worker: or public diplomacy workers, these employees are tasked with raising awareness of their country's culture abroad and improving its image. They help to arrange cultural exchanges and events in the host country, and often make public statements to counter misinformation, rumors, propaganda, or regular news that reflects poorly on their country.
political worker: conducts negotiations with host government, and also keeps tabs on the political situation (for example, meeting with opposition parties to learn what their policies vis-a-vis the diplomat's home country would be if they came into power). This is the classic function of the diplomat, and what most people think of when they hear the word "diplomacy".
management worker: some countries' diplomatic service has a specific role of being in charge of the small army of foreign nationals employed at the embassy for lesser jobs, such as driving dignitaries around, taking dictation, answering phones, etc. But this is not always present, depending on how the home country organizes its diplomatic service.
military attaches: any two countries that have any kind of active military partnership (whether it's an alliance, entente, or simply sale of hardware) are likely to exchange military attaches, who are tasked with conducting negotiations of purely military activities, and organizing joint exercises. Sometimes "naval attache" is used to refer to attaches charged specifically with maritime military cooperation.
deputy chief of mission (minister-counsellor): in charge of the day-to-day operations of the embassy or mission, sort of like the CEO of a small corporation. He is, for all intents and purposes, teh "boss" that tells everyone what they should be doing and how. He answers to...
ambassador (ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary): the big cheese of an embassy, but much of his daily work is more or less irrelevant to the normal work of diplomats. His job is to deliver messages from his country to the host country's government, visit with top political leaders, show up at major events and generally hobnob with the political and international elite in the host country's capital. He has, but rarely exercises, final authority (bar the home government's) regarding hiring, firing, schedules, etc. He is the most public face of the home country in the host country, and spends much of his time building up personal networks to serve his national interests.
EDIT: I forgot to mention spies, a large embassy usually has a number of spies that are accredited as diplomats but do in fact do espionage and intelligence work. If you know what to look for you can usually spot their offices, and sometimes tell by job title.

Angelo D

A person who represents his/her country abroad.An employee of the Foreign Service for the Department of State.

The privileges? They can tote their luggage under a special tag called "Diplomatic Luggage" WITHOUT it having to go through the scanner.

They can be referred to as the modern day nobility of the world with a hands off approach written all over them.

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