Diplomatic success was built on linguistic ability and cultural immersion. An ideal diplomat should be able to speak the language of the host country like a local and integrate into its culture, allowing them to think like a local. Of course, they must not forget that they were not locals; in the host country, they represented their own nation's interests.
Most diplomatic and political analysis involved filtering out "noise" in order to separate genuine information—in other words, distinguishing important information from unimportant information. In most modern societies, diplomats were surrounded by an overwhelming amount of information, but most of it was "noise" as far as diplomatic work was concerned. A diplomat's job was to hear the main note amid the clamor.
Laplace first asked Dubois where the pamphlet had come from, because the Southern Alps Republic was not under the jurisdiction of the French police organization.
By the time Dubois reported how he had obtained the pamphlet, Georgiana had calmed down as well.
She could not act without orders, and neither could Dubois. The Alpine Police District had only recently been established. Or rather, Napoleon did not use the police organization to monitor the Southern Alps Republic; he used the garrison commander, Murat. No matter how badly Murat performed, the police organization could not cross the Alps before receiving Napoleon's authorization.
Even if she rushed over there, it would be useless if Murat ignored her. Aligi and Polina both spoke Italian, but Murat would not listen to Aligi. Even though Aligi was Napoleon's relative, he was only a colonel.
Polina, on the other hand, was Caroline's biological sister. Murat would have to listen to Caroline.
Severus had said that Napoleon succeeded because he was always the first to seriously prepare for war while everyone else was still unprepared.
Before leaving,