A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a
cabinet minister in charge of a
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
's
foreign policy and
relations. The formal title of the top official varies between countries. The foreign minister typically reports to the head of government (such as prime minister or president).
Difference in titles
In some nations, such as
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the foreign minister is referred to as the
minister for external affairs; or others, such as Brazil and the states created from the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, call the position the minister of external relations. In the United States, the
secretary of state is the member of the
Cabinet who handles foreign relations. Other common titles may include minister of foreign relations. In many countries of Latin America, the foreign minister is colloquially called "
chancellor" (''canciller'' in the Spanish-speaking countries and ''chanceler'' in the Portuguese-speaking Brazil).
Diplomats themselves and historians often refer to the foreign ministry by its local address, for example, the
Ballhausplatz in Vienna housed the
Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary
The Imperial and Royal Foreign Ministry (german: k. u. k. Ministerium des Äußern) was the ministry responsible for the foreign relations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the formation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until it was dissolved in 19 ...
; the
Quai d'Orsay
The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of t ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
for France's
Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs; the
South Block
The Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat is where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. Situated at ...
in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
for India's
Ministry of External Affairs; the
Necessidades Palace in Lisbon for Portugal's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the
Wilhelmstraße, in Berlin, was the location of the
German Foreign Office
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, logo_width = 260 px
, image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg
, picture_width = 300px
, image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building
, headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...
; and
Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock C ...
, a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., houses the
Department of State. The
Ministry of External Relations of Brazil is often referred as the "Itamaraty" due to the two homonymous palaces that served as its headquarters, the original one in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
(1899–1970) and the present
Itamaraty Palace (since 1970) in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
. Indonesians also often refer to their
Ministry of Foreign Affairs as "Pejambon", since the ministry's main headquarters is located at Pejambon Street,
Central Jakarta. During the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, which lasted until 1917, the term used was the
Choristers' Bridge in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. In contrast, the Italian ministry was called the
Consulta.
[David Stevenson, "The Diplomats" in Jay Winter, ed. ''The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume II: The State'' (2014) vol 2 p 68.]
Powers of position
A foreign minister's powers can vary from government to government. In a classic
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...
, a foreign minister can potentially exert significant influence in forming
foreign policy but when the government is dominated by a strong
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
the foreign minister may be limited to playing a more marginal or subsidiary role in determining policy. Similarly, the political powers invested in the foreign minister are often more limited in
presidential governments with a strong
executive branch. Since the end of World War II, it has been common for both the foreign minister and
defense minister to be part of an inner cabinet (commonly known as a
national security council) in order to coordinate defense and
diplomatic policy. Although the 19th and early 20th centuries saw many heads of government assume the foreign ministry, this practice has since become uncommon in most
developed nations.
In some countries, the foreign minister is typically the most (or among the most) high profile of cabinet positions. For instance, in the US, its foreign minister is the first member of cabinet in line for the presidential line of succession (with the vice president, speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and president pro-tempore of the United States Senate ahead of the foreign minister). The UK's foreign secretary belongs to the four Great Offices of State (along with the prime minister, chancellor of the exchequer, and home secretary).
Responsibilities
Along with their political roles, foreign ministers are also traditionally responsible for many diplomatic duties, such as hosting foreign world leaders and going on
state visits
A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...
to other countries. The foreign minister is generally the most well-traveled member of any cabinet.
* In the United Kingdom, the minister responsible for foreign policy (as well as the
British Overseas Territories) is the
(Foreign Secretary). Before 1968, the
secretary of state for foreign affairs
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
only handled relations with foreign (non-
Commonwealth) countries, while relations with Commonwealth countries and colonies were handled by the
secretary of state for Commonwealth affairs
The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Common ...
. For the same reason, in Commonwealth countries other than the United Kingdom, the ministers responsible for handling relations with both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries were formerly usually designated ministers for external affairs.
* In the United States, the
secretary of state handles foreign policy and is the senior
Cabinet officer. The name of the post comes from several domestic duties.
Although it is very rare for there to be any sub-national foreign minister post, sometimes there is a minor external relations position. The
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
has dealt with external relations in certain areas since its inception (see
EU Trade Commissioner) and has a high representative as its chief diplomat. However, his or her duties are primarily to implement
EU foreign policy
The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, which ...
, rather than formulate it.
Lists
*
List of current foreign ministers
This is a list of current foreign ministers of the 193 United Nations member states as well as the Holy See ( Vatican City) and the State of Palestine.
Foreign ministers of sovereign countries with limited recognition, some alternative gover ...
*
List of female foreign ministers
By year
*
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
*
1990,
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
,
1992,
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
,
1994,
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
,
1996,
1997,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
1999
*
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
,
2001,
2002,
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009
*
2010,
2011,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
,
2013,
2014,
2015,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
,
2018,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
See also
*
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
*
Diplomacy
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
References
External links
eDiplomat.com: Foreign Affairs Ministries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Minister
Foreign
Diplomacy