Difference between revisions of "Commonwealth Secretariat for External Affairs"

Revision as of 01:01, 10 November 2006

The Commonwealth Secretariat for External Affairs is the Commonwealth Commission secretariat responsible for the relations of the Commonwealth of Peoples with nations, supranational bodies and other sovereign or semi-sovereign actors outside the Commonwealth itself. It is comparable to the foreign ministries of most nations and is administered by the Commonwealth Secretary for External Affairs.

The largest of the Commonwealth secretariats, External Affairs is headquartered in the large Woodrow Fenn Building in New Amsterdam, Laneria, the Commonwealth's administrative center and de facto capital.

History

The Secretariat for External Affairs is one of fourteen secretariats created as part of the Commonwealth Commission by the New Amsterdam Treaty. Shortly after its creation, as the Commonwealth's common foreign policy went into effect, the Secretariat assumed control of all the foreign missions of Commonwealth members excepting only the Danaan embassies to Pantocratoria and Excalbia. The Secretariat then used these resources to establish the Commonwealth's own system of missions and embassies abroad.

Duties and responsibilities

The Commonwealth Commission is responsible for the external policy of the Commonwealth of Peoples, within guidelines laid down by the Commonwealth General Assembly. Within the Commission, the Secretariat for External Affairs is the primary agency responsible for external affairs. The Secretariat advances Commonwealth objectives throughout the world, supports the external activities of other Commonwealth institutions and provides an array of services to Commonwealth residents travelling abroad and to external visitors to the Commonwealth.

All of these activities are conducted through civil servants and appointed ambassadors. The Commonwealth maintains several hundred missions to external powers and international organizations. It also provides an array of services domestically, including explaining external policies to the public, analyzing reports on external affairs and keeping the institutions of the Commonwealth informed on international affairs.

Operating units

• Bureau of Administration
• Bureau of Ambaran Affairs
• Bureau of Consular Affairs
• Bureau of Cultural Affairs
• Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights Promotion
• Bureau of Diplomatic Security
• Bureau of Economic Affairs
• Bureau of Excalbian Affairs
• Bureau of Information
• Bureau of International Organization Affairs
• Bureau of Law Enforcement Affairs
• Bureau of Marine and Space Affairs
• Bureau of Military Affairs
• Bureau of Pantocratorian Affairs
• Bureau of Military and Intelligence Cooperation
• Bureau of Personnel
• Bureau of Public Relations
• Bureau of Tareldanore Affairs
• Bureau of Vasconian Affairs
• Bureau of West Atlantic Affairs
• Executive Secretariat
• Office of Administrative Policy
• Office of the Counterterrorism Director
• Office of the Legal Advisor
• Office of Protocol
• Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
• Office of War Crimes Issues