The Origins, Use and Development of Hot Line Diplomacy

This paper examines the origins, use and development of hot lines as a means of communication in diplomatic crises. Using primary material it describes the initial decision of the United States and the Soviet Union to establish a hot line and British attempts to become a third partner to the deal. A number of subsequent examples of the hot line in use are also discussed, most notably the superpower hot line dialogue during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. The various rationales and purposes of hot lines are analysed and it is argued that since 1962 they have increasingly been valued for the prestige they bring to diplomatic actors rather than for their utility in crisis situations.