In 1995, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said of the Cable News Network, "CNN is the sixteenth member of the [15 member United Nations] Security Council." Scholars as well as diplomats have recognized the existence of a link between communications and diplomacy, but up until now the implications of this relationship have been left unexplored. In this work, the author studies the historic interconnectedness between communications and diplomacy, how communications have historically determined the practice of diplomacy, and how, with the development of global television, communications can determine diplomatic outcomes under certain conditions. This work also examines the ways in which todays broadcasting will shape foreign policy processes in the future and the future impact of global television in world politics.