Minister for Foreign Affairs

This article relates to Minister for Foreign Affairs as it relates to Nationstates. For more general information, please see the Wikipedia article on the subject.

A Minister for Foreign Affairs or Foreign Minister is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. In many nations, he is considered the most senior minister below the head of government. Because of the intense focus on international relations in most nations, the Foreign Minister is often the second best-known political figure.

A foreign minister's power varies from nation to nation and from government to government. In a classical parliamentary system, the foreign minister often dominates foreign policy. In parliamentary systems with a stronger head of government, the foreign minister's role is often more subsidiary. In Pantocratoria, the monarch continues to play a strong role in foreign policy, often dominating the parliamentary executive.

Along with their legislative and political duties, foreign ministers are also important diplomats. While chiefs of government tend to travel more than any other member of the cabinet, foreign ministers are a close second.

In some nations, the foreign minister is known as the secretary of state, the foreign secretary, or the minister for external affairs.