Organization and Functions

Part1

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Text

Ex.1 Form a word from the list below that fits in the space in each sentence. The number of the word corresponds to the number of the sentences.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Part 4

1. to govern

2. to handle

3. head

4. to appoint

5. expert

6. to negotiate

7. to assist, run

8. geography, function

9. break

10. special

1. ___ agencies that deal with foreign affairs are usually called the ministry or department of foreign or external affairs.

2. In the US, foreign affairs are___ by the Department of State.

3. Such a department is___ by the foreign secretary (or, in the US, by the secretary if state).

4. In democracies, the foreign secretary is always a political ___ who is selected by the nation’s leader.

5. Drawing on the ___ within the department and its establishments abroad, the secretary advises the head of state on matters of foreign policy, helps formulate and coordinate policy, and administers the agency over which he or she presides.

6. At times, the foreign secretary is also directly involved in ___ with other nations.

7. A small number of politically appointed undersecretaries and ___ secretaries aid in ___ the department.

8. Departments of foreign affairs are divided into___ and___ divisions.

9. The former consists of bureaus for major geographic areas that are then ___ into smaller divisions and, ultimately, into “ country desks”.

10. Desk officers are career diplomats who___ in various aspects in the country to which they are assigned.

The governments of all states include among their members one who is responsible for relations with other states and with international organizations. The extent of his personal responsibility varies from country to country, as does his title: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State (USA), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (UK), etc. The Minister’s executive function is to implement the foreign policy of his government, and to manage its international relations. This he does with the help of the permanent staff of his Ministry and the heads of his own missions abroad, and through the intermediary of the heads of foreign missions accredited to his state.

The composition of Ministries varies considerably from country to country, but on the basis of the functions that they perform might be divided into the following sections, and grouped according to convenience:

Political Affairs – usually subdivided into regional departments, e.g. Latin America, Australia.

The United Nations – including a provision of directives or ‘briefs’.

Other international and regional organizations – including interdepartmental coordination and the provision of non-technical briefs.

Treaties – this section works in close relations with the legal department.

Legal – a separate department in the larger states; it normally deals with all international instruments and all questions of international law. Smaller countries may appoint part-time professional or academic advisers or obtain advice from a general Ministry of Justice. The legal department may advise both in matters of home and foreign affairs. In certain states a Department of International Law exists as a separate entity from the Legal Department, the latter concerning itself with legal assistance, frontier problems, nationality law, national property abroad, etc.

Protocol – responsibility for all personal dealings with heads of foreign missions on such matters as privileges, immunities and formalities; also for organisation of conferences, reception of visitors, etc.

Trade and economic relations

Cultural relations

Disarmament

Press and Information – this includes relations with foreign press representatives, it may also include the provision of information for the home news services and keeping the Ministry’s missions abroad informed of events at home and abroad.

Scientific

Personnel

Commodities

Consular relations

Administration, communications and security

Archives and library

The organisation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government is highly complex (given the nature of its historic commitments). It contains a number of ‘functional’ departments whose raison d’être is to insure that the FCO maintains overall and ultimate control of relations with foreign governments in what might be described as specialist subjects.

When a country maintains close international relations on a wide variety of matters of national concern its Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be overloaded and even technically out of its depth if it were to try to maintain close control over the negotiations concerned. An example of this situation is the relationship between the countries of Western Europe, where matters of defense, social welfare, health, economic relations, etc., are of close mutual concern, and policies are constantly under discussion and negotiation between the departmental experts rather than through the traditional channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But although a Ministry of Foreign Affairs may in many instances relinquish immediate responsibility to other departments, it must always remain responsible for background information political advice, personal relationships and follow-up; and it must always be in a position to step in and take action, or at least make recommendations, if it considers that a particular department, in pursuing its particular interest, is in danger of losing sight of the national interest as a whole.

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