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Encyclopedia > Cultural ambassador

An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. In everyday usage it applies to the ranking plenipotentiary minister stationed in a foreign capital. The host country typically allows the ambassador control of specific territory called an embassy, whose territory, staff, and even vehicles are generally afforded diplomatic immunity from most laws of the host country. An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... The term plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) refers to, as a noun, a person who has, or as an adjective that confers, full powers. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ... Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host countrys laws (although they can be expelled). ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

Contents


Diplomats

Role

The senior diplomatic officers among members of the Commonwealth of Nations are known as High Commissioners, who are the heads of High Commissions. Representatives of the Holy See are known as Papal or Apostolic Nuncios, while the head of a Libyan People's Bureau is a Secretary. The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... From the ancient Latin Nuntius, meaning any envoy. ... A secretary is an office/administrative support position. ...


Historically, officials representing their countries abroad were termed ministers, but this term was also applied to diplomats of the second rank. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 formalized the system of diplomatic rank under international law: The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from September 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ... The system of diplomatic rank has over time been formalised on an international basis. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...


Ambassadors are ministers of the highest rank, with plenipotentiary authority to represent their head of state. An Ordinary Ambassador is one heading a permanent diplomatic mission, for instance the senior professional diplomat in an embassy. An Extraordinary Ambassador could be appointed for special purposes or for an indefinite term; politically appointed ambassadors would fall under this category. The term plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) refers to, as a noun, a person who has, or as an adjective that confers, full powers. ...


Moreover, a Resident Ambassador is one who resides within the country to which s/he is accredited., while a Non-Resident Ambassador does not reside within the country to which (s)he is accredited, but lives in a nearby country. Thus a resident ambassador to a country might at the same time also be a non-resident ambassador to one or more other countries.


Among European powers, the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary (French ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire or German ausserordentlicher und bevollmächtigter Botschafter) was deemed the personal representative of the Sovereign, and the custom of dispatching ambassadors to the head of state rather than the government has persisted. For example, ambassadors to and from the United Kingdom are accredited to or from the Royal Court of St. James's, rather than to the State. Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... The Court of St Jamess is the popular name of the royal court of the United Kingdom. ...


Because members of the Commonwealth of Nations have or had a common head of state, they do not exchange ambassadors, but instead have High Commissioners which represent the governments rather than the head of state. The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ...


Ranking below full ambassador are the rank of Envoy, Minister resident and Chargé d'affaires. They represent their government rather than their head of state. For further details, see diplomatic rank. The system of diplomatic rank has over time been formalised on an international basis. ...


While the title still reflects the Ambassador's natural vocation to head a diplomatic mission, the rank is often held by career diplomats, as a matter of internal promotion, regardless of the posting, and in many national careers it is quite common for them to be appointed to other functions, especially within the ministry/ministries in charge of foreign affairs, in some countries in systematical alteration with actual postings.


Extraordinary postings

Not unlike many diplomats of the lower rank of Resident (Minister) or the usually full rank of high commissioner, or in other circumstances a Consul representative, an ambassador can in specific historical conditions be entrusted with a task that is no less administrative then diplomatic, such as representing the protector in a protectorate of the subordinate kind, e.g. posted by France in the Saar (rather a mandate territory by another name, in part of Germany) A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a state official of certain representative types, required to take up permanent residency abroad officially. ... The title Consul has been used for official representatives of a state, outside its (metropolitan) territory, looking after its interests (a task normally largely transferred to the formal diplomacy) and, especially, those of its subjects, individuals as well as enterprises. ... A protectorate is, in international law, a political entity (a sovereign state or a less developed native polity, such as a tribal chiefstainship or feudal princely state) that formally agrees (voluntarily or under pressure) by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with another, stronger state, called the protector, which... The Saar, corresponding to the current German state of Saarland, was a protectorate under French control between 1947 and 1959. ...


Lists of ambassadors

The following is the list of High Commissioners and ambassadors from Australia. ... This article needs to be updated. ... The following table lists ambassadors to the United States sorted by the country from which they hail. ... This is a list of Ambassadors and High Commissioners to Canada from other countries and entities (in order of seniority): Philémon Yunji Yang† of Cameroon Roble Olhaye of Djibouti Carlos Miranda of Costa Rica Tuiloma Neroni Slade of Samoa Alphonse Oyabi-Gnala of Gabon Mauricio Rosales Rivera of El Salvador... The following is the list of Ambassadors and High Commissioners to the United Kingdom, or more formally, to the Court of St. ...

Non-diplomatic ambassadorships

In a less formal sense, the word is used for high-profile non-diplomatic representative of various entities (rarely states), mainly cultural and charitable organisations, often as willing figure heads to attract media attention, e.g. film and pop stars makes appeals to the public at large for UNESCO activities (see UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors), sometimes during press-swarmed visits in the field. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity advocates of UNESCO and utilize their talent or fame to spread the UNESCO ideals. ...


In the Belgian region of Flanders, the title of ambassadeur culturel 'cultural ambassador' was formally awarded by the Flemish government to Flemish artists and ensembles whose outstanding performances, especially abroad, were deemed to deserve a specific subsidy.


Even more loosely, the word ambassador is sometimes used, without being an actual title, as a vague description of anyone who acts as a high-profile spokesman, frontman etcetera, even implicietly by excelling in a field (such as an art) which he is the said to be an 'ambassador' of, even if no organised campaign is involved.


See also



 

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