Foreign ministries

A foreign minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations.

In some nations, such as India, the Foreign Minister is referred to as the " Minister for External Affairs" or, as in the case of Brazil, "Minister of Foreign Affairs" and of the former Soviet Union, this position is known as the "Minister of External Relations". In the United States, the equivalent to the foreign ministry is called the "Department of State", and the equivalent position is known as the "Secretary of State". Other common titles may include "Minister of Foreign Relations". In many Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America, the foreign minister is colloquially called "Canciller".

Diplomats themselves and historians often refer to the foreign ministry by its local address: the Ballhausplatz (Vienna), the Quai d’Orsay (Paris), the Itamaraty (Brasília), the Wilhelmstraße (Berlin); and Foggy Bottom (Washington). For imperial Russia, to 1917 it was the Choristers’ Bridge (St Petersburg). The Italian ministry was called "the Consulta."

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 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 ) 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.

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