A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
minister in charge of a
state'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 List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, 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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, call the position the minister of external relations. In the United States, the
secretary of state is the member of the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
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
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
" (''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
Ballhausplatz is a square in central Vienna containing the building (with the address Ballhausplatz 2) that for over two hundred years has been the official residence of the most senior Austrian Cabinet Minister, the State Chancellor, today the ...
in Vienna housed the
Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary; the
Quai d'Orsay in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
for France's
Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs; the
South Block 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 Hous ...
for India's
Ministry of External Affairs; the
Necessidades Palace
The Necessidades Palace () is a historic building in the Largo do Rilvas, a public square in Lisbon, Portugal. It serves as headquarters of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry. The Palace has been classified as a Property of Public Interest since 198 ...
in Lisbon for Portugal's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the
Wilhelmstraße
Wilhelmstrasse (german: Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of ...
, in Berlin, was the location of the
German Foreign Office; and
Foggy Bottom, 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 b ...
(1899–1970) and the present
Itamaraty Palace
The Itamaraty Palace (), also known as the Palace of the Arches (''Palácio dos Arcos''), is the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. It is located in the national capital of Brasília. The building was designed by archit ...
(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 is ...
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
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
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 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
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
) is the
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development affairs (Foreign Secretary). Before 1968, the
secretary of state for foreign affairs 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. 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
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
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 union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
has dealt with external relations in certain areas since its inception (see
EU Trade Commissioner
The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the European Union's common commercial policy.
Responsibilities
The Commissioner heads up the ...
) and has a high representative as its chief diplomat. However, his or her duties are primarily to implement
EU foreign policy, rather than formulate it.
Lists
*
List of current foreign ministers
*
List of female foreign ministers
A foreign minister or minister of foreign affairs (sometimes external affairs' minister) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a nation's foreign policy and relations. There have been many women appointed to this post around the world. This ...
By year
*
1950
*
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
,
1991,
1992,
1993,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
,
1995,
1996,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
1998,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
*
2000,
2001,
2002,
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2009
*
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
,
2015,
2016,
2017,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2019
*
2020,
2021,
2022
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
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
Diplomacy