What are the benefits of diplomatic immunity and how is it achieved?
A little history: back in the 10th Century or so Chengis Khan sent an embassy of a number of distinguished persons to the court of the King of Pagan in what is now Burma. The embassy announced the good news that the Great Khan in his beneficence was willing to accept Pagan as a vassal state as long as the king sent the usual annual tribute of gold, etc. The King of Pagan, apparently unaware of who he was dealing with, found the proposal quite insulting and ordered every member of the embassy beheaded. The Khan naturally dispatched an army to mercilessly sack and completely destroy Pagan, one of the greatest cultures of ancient Asia. Diplomatic immunity could have avoided this embarrassing episode. Similarly, in modern times the principal benefit of diplomatic immunity is not to avoid traffic tickets or fines for parking in the wrong space but to protect diplomats from repercussions of their official activities that the host country might find offensive or deem illegal. For example, man
