 It is less likely to leak, and enables more personal contact than the formal cablegram, with its wide distribution and impersonal style.The home country will usually send instructions to a diplomatic post on what foreign policy goals to pursue, but decisions on tactics – who needs to be influenced, what will best persuade them, who are potential allies and adversaries, and how it can be done - are for the diplomats overseas to make.In this operation, the intelligence, integrity, cultural understanding, and energy of individual diplomats become critical.