C

Showing all 18 results

• Term

  Communiqué

  A brief public summary statement issued following important bilateral or multilateral meetings.

• Term

  Conciliation

  An effort to achieve agreement and, it is hoped, increased goodwill between two opposed parties.

• Term

  Convention

  An assembly of persons who meet for a common purpose, especially a meeting of delegates for the purpose of formulating a written agreement on specific issues. The word also refers to the written agreement itself.

• Term

  Country desk

  The Department of State has an office for each country with whom the U.S. shares diplomatic relations. These offices are often called country desks, and if a large country is involved, the desk is likely to be staffed by a large number of officers. A smaller country may require a one-officer desk only.

• Term

  Chief of Mission

  Usually called an ambassador, this is the ranking officer in an embassy or permanent mission and the personal representative of the head of state of their nation.

• Term

  Country team

  An interagency group made up of the heads of each State Department section in the embassy and the heads of the other U.S. government agencies represented at post. The country team meeting represents a regular occasion for the sharing of information among sections and agencies, and an opportunity to coordinate activities.

• Term

  Credentials

  The name for letters given to an ambassador by their chief of state, and addressed to the chief of state of the host country. Credentials are delivered to the chief of state by the ambassador in a formal credentials ceremony, which generally takes place shortly after the ambassador’s arrival at a new post. Until this ceremony has taken place, the ambassador is not formally recognized by the host country and cannot officially act as an ambassador. The letters are termed "letters of credence" because they request the receiving chief of state to give "full credence" to what the ambassador will say on behalf of their government.

• Term

  Consulate

  An office that is part of an embassy or established by one nation in an important city of another nation for the purpose of supporting and protecting its citizens traveling or residing there. In addition, these offices are charged with performing other important duties such as issuing visas (where this is required) to host country nationals wishing to travel to the country the consulate represents. All consulates, whether located in the capital city or in other communities, are administratively under the ambassador and the embassy.