Contested states claim and practice external sovereignty, notwithstanding the constraints produced by the international system's lack of recognition and their broad exclusion from formal international relations. To project their sovereignty outside of the territory that they control, they engage in various diplomatic practices. They tap into need of recognized states to activate some of the functions of diplomacy, such as communication, information exchange and negotiation, and strive to develop others, such as representation. The specific practices that contested states develop to further their diplomatic endeavours can be alternatively traditional or innovative, formal or informal. The chapter illustrates the various combinations of diplomatic practices developed by a number of contested states, whether fully unrecognised or partially recognised.