Diplomacy and symbiosis: a microbial perspective on diplomacy/Diplomazia e simbiosi: uno sguardo microbico alla diplomazia

Microbes are tiny yet fascinating microorganisms, invisible to the naked eye, that weave human life with countless human and more-than-human forms of existence. For just over 15 years, scientists have been able to see, thanks to a series of technoscientific innovations, the extent to which microbes are part of our own identity as human beings; between 50% and 90% of the cells of a human body, in fact, are microbial cells. Microbes can make us sick, but, more importantly, they also ensure our health and modulate our immunological, metabolic and cognitive processes, as well as being partly responsible for fluctuations in our mood. One idea that is gaining ground through this microbial perspective is that we are not individuals with well-defined and distinct body boundaries, but rather networks of interconnections with the environment – or semi-porous and permeable membranes with the environment – thanks to microbes. Microbes are diplomats, in other words. And we are either forced or happy to negotiate with our microbes, be they good or bad. But how does the concept of diplomacy transform when viewed from a microbial perspective?