Foreign minister
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A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the governmental foreign policy of a sovereign nation. The ministry for foreign affairs is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government (prime minister or president); it is often granted to the deputy prime minister in coalition governments. In some nations, the foreign minister is referred to as the minister for external affairs.
A foreign minister's powers can vary from government to government. In a classic parliamentary system, a foreign minister can potentially exert significant influence in forming foreign policy but when the government is dominated by a strong prime minister the foreign minister may be limited to playing a more marginal or subsidary role in determining policy. Similarly, the political powers invested in the foreign minister are often more limited in presidential governments with a strong executive. 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 defence and diplomatic policy. Although the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw many heads of government assume the foreign ministry, this practice has since become uncommon in most developed nations.
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 always the most well-traveled member of any cabinet.
In the United States, the foreign minister is called the 'Secretary of State', and occupies the oldest cabinet post in the nation. In the United Kingdom, the foreign minister is called the 'Foreign Secretary'; after the merger of the previously separate Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office in 1968, the foreign minister is officially referred to as the 'Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs'.
Related articles and lists
By year
- List of foreign ministers in 1950
- List of foreign ministers in 1990
- List of foreign ministers in 1991
- List of foreign ministers in 1992
- List of foreign ministers in 1993
- List of foreign ministers in 1994
- List of foreign ministers in 1995
- List of foreign ministers in 1996
- List of foreign ministers in 1997
- List of foreign ministers in 1998
- List of foreign ministers in 1999
- List of foreign ministers in 2000
- List of foreign ministers in 2001
- List of foreign ministers in 2002
- List of foreign ministers in 2003
- List of foreign ministers in 2004
- List of foreign ministers in 2005
By country
- Australia: Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Austria-Hungary: List of Foreign Ministers of Austria-Hungary
- Canada:
- (from 1993) Minister of Foreign Affairs (list)
- (until 1993) Secretary of State for External Affairs (list)
- Denmark: Foreign Minister of Denmark
- France: Minister of Foreign Affairs (list)
- Germany: Minister of Foreign Affairs (list)
- Iran: Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Republic of Ireland: Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Japan: Minister for Foreign Affairs (with list)
- New Zealand: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (with list)
- Norway: Foreign minister of Norway
- Russia: List of Russian Foreign Ministers
- São Tomé and Príncipe: List of Foreign Ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Sweden: Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Switzerland: Federal Councillor heading the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (list)
- United Kingdom:
- United States: Secretary of State (with list)he:משרד החוץ