Scenes of diplomatic life

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Gueorgui Pinkhassov / Magnum Inside the French embassy in Moscow, 1995. Gueorgui Pinkhassov/magnum

Elliot Erwitt / Magnum During an official trip of the French President Charles De Gaulle (centre) to the Soviet Union in 1966. A reception at the French embassy in Moscow with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (3rd from left). Elliot Erwitt/magnum

Tomas Dworzak / Magnum Iraq. Baghdad. The US administrator, Ambassador Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition of Provisional Authority at a graduation ceremony for members of the New Iraqi Army at a military base near the Iranian border. Tomas Dworzak/magnum

Tim Hetherington / Magnum Liberia. Monrovia. 2004. Ambassador Jacques Klein, the UN's special representative of the secretary-general, receives a portrait of himself from the Fillipino contingent at a parade to mark the end of its tour of duty. Tim Hetherington/magnum

Raymond Depardon / Magnum France. Paris. 1967. Outside the Elysée palace, from left to right: French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou, Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, French President Charles De Gaulle and the Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville. Raymond Depardon/magnum

Chris Steele-Perkins / Magnum Reception desk inside the British consulate in Kampala, Uganda, 1984. Chris Steele-Perkins/magnum

John Vink / Magnum Phnom Penh. May 1989. The press room at the Soviet embassy to Cambodia. John Vink/magnum

Richard Kalvar / Magnum Dignitaries at the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva: Including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (left) and Swiss representative Walter Fust (2nd from left). Richard Kalvar/magnum

John Vink / Magnum Election night at the US embassy of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2008. John Vink/magnum

Tim Hetherington / Magnum London. September, 1999. A member of the Liberian football team, The Millenium Stars, comprised of ex-combatants dressed in traditional Liberian dress at a barbeque at the Liberian ambassador's house. Tim Hetherington/magnum

Jonas Bendiksen / Magnum Nepal. Kathmandu. 2007. At Patan Durbar square, Günther Bächler, a Swiss diplomat who was active during the peace process between the Maoists, the monarchy and the political parties. Jonas Bendiksen/magnum

Ernst Haas / Magnum The West-German foreign minister, Heinrich von Brentano, reading in the garden of the German embassy in Geneva, 1959. Ernst Haas/magnum

John Vink / Magnum Newly-appointed US ambassador, Carol Rodley, arrives in Cambodia just before the election night held at the US embassy of Phnom Penh in 2008. John Vink/magnum

Tomas Dworzak / Magnum Baghdad. November 2007. Green Zone/International Zone. Reception for US state department and military at the US embassy. Tomas Dworzak/magnum

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Diplomacy is the practice of representing the interests of a state and conducting negotiations between different sides. Or as US satirist Ambrose Bierce put it: "Diplomacy is the art of lying for one's country."

Photographers of the prestigious Magnum agency have captured moments from diplomatic lives around the world – on and off stage.