Diplomat A diplomat , sometimes known as an emissary or envoy was a person who specialized , or in the least performed , duties facilitating peaceful relations between different factions , often by serving as a negotiator or a neutral mediator of disputes . A diplomat who was a citizen of one power may be hired or appointed to professionally serve the interests of another power . ( ) Federation , and before that United Earth , Starfleet starship commanders were sometimes called upon to serve as diplomats , whether by specific assignment or by emergent necessity . ( ; ) First contact and the official establishment of relations with an alien race was an important diplomatic responsibility entrusted to starship commanders . ( ; ) When Captain James T . Kirk was kidnapped on in in 2269 , the efforts of the crew to recover him were frustrated by the Federation Bureau of Planetary Treaties and Starfleet , who each insisted that the issue fell under the other ' s jurisdiction . First officer Spock observed , " " Diplomats and bureaucrat s may function differently , but they achieve exactly the same results . " " ( ) While in command of the following the arrest of James T . Kirk and Leonard McCoy on suspicion of assassinating Klingon Chancellor Gorkon , Spock ordered the crew to " piece together what happened here tonight . " When Pavel Chekov asked what would happen if the crew could not properly reconstruct those events , Spock replied , " " Then Mr . Chekov , it resides in the hands of the diplomats . " " Ironically , it was Spock ' s own diplomatic efforts that led to the meeting of Kirk and Gorkon in the first place . ( ) Feeling responsible for Kirk and McCoy ' s arrest and show trial at the hands of the Khitomer conspiracy , Spock sought to avoid prematurely vouching for Federation approval when he began to secretly work toward Vulcan reunification with the Romulan s . However , by acting without official sanction , Captain Jean - Luc Picard accused Spock of engaging in " cowboy diplomacy . " ( ) Inspector Lestrade had once brought a case to Sherlock Holmes , where he introduced a gentleman , whom he described as " the emissary of a foreign government " , that had been victim of a crime . Data , who was portraying Holmes ( and thus knew all of Holmes cases ) quickly verified that the man was not who he claim to be , but was in fact , that the " emissary works not for , but against the King of Bohemia . " ( ) During the Kriosian rebellion of 2367 , the transported Ambassador , an emissary from the Klingon High Council to the Kriosian system , was sent to examine the evidence by the colony ' s Klingon governor Vagh that the rebel s were aided by the Federation . Later , in an unrelated investigation aboard the " Enterprise " that led to the Ambassador and the Governor , Data requested that they be searched for possibly concealing E - band transmitter , however , Kell objected , " " I am a Klingon ! An emissary of the High Council . I will not be searched by anyone on this ship ! " " ( ) The following year , the empathic metamorph Kamala participated in an arranged marriage with the Valtese Chancellor Alrik , was so chosen by the Kriosians to serve her people as an emissary of peace . ( ) During the ' s mission to locate the Founders in 2370 , the Ferengi Grand Nagus Zek appointed Quark as an emissary on his behalf . Quark was chosen because he had previously established a trade agreement with the Karemma , and during the mission , he was given the authorization to increase Ferengi purchases of tulaberry wine from the Karemma by 3 percent . When told by Hanok , that that was a negligible increase , Quark assured him that in this case , he had " considerable leeway to bargain . " ( ) The Dominion genetically engineered the Vorta to serve as their diplomats , scientist s , and military commanders . After drinking a glass of Kanar containing voraxna poison , Weyoun remarked that his Vorta resistance to poison , " " comes in handy when you ' re a diplomat . " " ( )