Departments of Foreign Affairs

Government agencies that deal with foreign affairs are usually called the ministry or department of foreign or external affairs. In the United States, foreign affairs is handled by the Department of State. Such a department is headed by the foreign secretary (or, in the United States, by the secretary of state). In democracies, the foreign secretary is always appointed by the nation's leader. The secretary advises the head of state on matters of foreign policy. At times, the foreign secretary is also directly involved in negotiations with other nations. Bureaus for major geographic areas are broken down into smaller divisions and, ultimately, into "country desks." Desk officers are career diplomats who specialize in various aspects of the country to which they are assigned. Functional divisions deal with issues that do not fall under the domain of any one country.