The Foreign Ministry

It is difficult to find a state today that does not have, in addition to a diplomatic service, a ministry dedicated to its administration and direction. This is usually known as the ministry of foreign affairs or, for short, foreign ministry. It is easy to forget that this ministry came relatively late onto the scene. In fact, its appearance in Europe post-dated the arrival of the resident diplomatic mission by nearly three centuries. This chapter will begin by looking briefly at the origins and development of the foreign ministry, and then examine its different roles. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.