Contenu du sommaire : Les affaires étrangères

The Quai d'Orsay : Genesis of a Reform. What was mainly at stake with a reform of the ministry of Foreign Affairs was the modernization of french diplomacy and remotivation of ail those who serve it. In order to cope with this, the method for reform has privileged opening on the outside world, and a pragmatic approach, more oriented on methods for working together than on structures. The reform follows four major lines : make better use of the diplomatie network, reinforce the management of people and careers, ensure the départaient' s internai cohésion and reaffirm the central rôle of the ministry of Foreign Affairs in government.

Adapting the Diplomatie Instruments to changes in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989. The new european map shows a moving area where nations are again the main actors, because of the dissolution of cold war alliances in a framework of insufficiently solid legal instruments. In three years, the number of States in what was called Eastern Europe has been multiplied by three. France decided to undertake diplomatie relations with these States, a decision leading to administrative adaptations. Three types of French embassies abroad have thus been created. Some are led by a résident ambassador, others by a non-resident ambassador, with accreditations to several heads of State, some by semi-permanent ambassadors. The structures of the ministerial department hâve also been deeply changed in order to take account of this new situation.

Quai, Élysée, Matignon — Centers of Decision - making in Foreign Policy In the field of foreign policy, the rôles are not resulting from the distribution of powers operated by the constitution. They dépend largely upon internai political distribution of forces as well as upon the main actors' personalities, especially in periods of ‘cohabitation' between a President and a Prime Minister of different political origins. The rather bad relations between the three main actors of foreign policy in 1986-1988 actually never went beyond problems of persons, of good manners and of protocol and it did not really affect France' s action abroad. Between 1988 and 1993 France experienced the political constellation most favourable to a monopoly of the executive on diplomacy and theoretically more favourable to the administration of Foreign Affairs, with a minister who had a very close relationship to the President of the Republic. Since 1993, the institutions are functioning smoothly as ail actors want to show that ail government authorities are tuned up to lead foreign policy.

The Auswärtiges Amt and the Quai d'Orsay Comparing the centers of diplomacy in France and Germany shows as well similarities as différences. A bill of 1990 sets the legal framework of the german foreign service. It defines the functions of the ministry, particularly its rôle as coordinator of the State's international relations and those of other government services. The organisational structures of the Auswärtiges Amt are being constantly adapted to new facts. This is why the ministry's organization chart is adapted once a year. Another characteristic of the ministry is that decisions are made on the basis of an internai consensus as broad as possible.

The British Diplomatie Service. The legal basis of the British Diplomatie Service has been established for the first time as such in by an order in council of 1964. The Foreign Secretary is assisted by a Private Office and political advisers. The Diplomatie Service Régulations define spécifie conditions of service concerning security, service abroad, dismissal, and political and public activities. The structure is very flexible. Where the FCO differs substantially from its foreign counterparts is that the departments are not grouped into fixed divisions. The Foreign Secretary is assisted by four ministers of State, one of them being the Minister for Overseas. Recently the decision has been taken to increase the autonomy of the Assistant Under-Secretaries. However the ultimate budgetary accountability to Parliament lies on the Permanent Under Secretary, head of the Diplomatie Service.

The United States Department of State A Government of Strangers or a Strange Government ? Within American government, the United States Department is typical of a fragmented ‘stateless' bureaucracy. It shares a great deal of power with the Congress, interest groups and the mass media, and has seen its influence gradually eroded by the White House and the Department of Defense. Because other institutional actors are structurally very strong in the American political System, the American Department of State is correspondingly less powerful within its universe compared to its counterparts in most advanced industrial democracies. It is both a ‘government of strangers' and a ‘strange government'. Nonetheless, as an actor on the international stage, the American Department of State is powerful because of the position of the United States on the geopolitical scene.

The Coordination Function. The growing diversification of international affairs, and thereforce the development of central administration in the ministry of Foreign Affairs hâve created the need for an instance able to exercise authority upon the whole range of the ministry' s services. Since the permanent set up of a General Secrétariat in 1920, its rôle and place have varied. Internai service régulations in the department do not explicitly mention this coordinating function which results from a sériés of practices and traditions. The reform of the Ministry of Foreign affairs in september 1993 has confirmed and reinforced the General Secretary's coordinating rôle.

Foreign Affairs and Legal Affairs. Legal questions play an important role in drafting a foreign policy and managing external relations. Whereas the compétences of the Jurisconsulte, which have been laid down at the end of the eighteenth century hâve not changed very much since then, the structures have constantly been changing, with the eventual setting up -in 1969-of a directorate for legal affairs in the ministry of Foreign Affairs. The most important part of its role is its Consulting activity. It is dealing as a council with the final drafting of international agreement, their interprétation and the définition of international positions. The function of agent in case of litigations has been constantly growing over recent years.

Economie Diplomacy. Any diplomacy has an économie component. But some administrations don't accept easily that this diplomacy be exercised by a member of the foreign service. Even if they are intellectually well equipped and politically supported, diplomats must learn to find their own field. Generally speaking, économie diplomacy covers three areas : bilateral diplomacy, mainly concerning the countries which receive loans to finance imports from France ; functional diplomacy, which covers sectors deemed important either because of French industrial and technological capacities, or because they are needed to provision vital sectors, or because of spécifie international régulations ; multilatéral diplomacy which tends to become more and more prevailing, with the globalization and liberalization of exchanges and the growing intégration of national économies in some of the planet's régions.

Consular Protection. One of the fundamental missions of the ministry of Foreign Affairs is to implement a global policy of protection for French citizens residing abroad. This is mainly done by the Directorate for Frenchmen abroad and foreigners in France, coordinating with the members of the Senate who represent french citizens established out of France and the members of the higher Council of Frenchmen Abroad. Consular protection covers a very broad field : administrative services such as formalities for birth, marriage etc., security of persons in cases of crises in foreign countries, enabling the exercice of civic rights, negociating international agreements, giving practical information for those who want to expatriate themselves.

The General Directorate for Cultural, Scientific and Technical Relations and its Reform. Cultural diplomacy has always been a major and original component of France's foreign policy. Today, the general directorate for cultural, scientific and technical relations, with 12 000 officers working in 160 countries, is at the heart of a very dense network of 300 primary and secundary schools, 200 ‘alliances françaises', 130 cultural centers or institutes and 30 research centers. Budgetary constraints make it necessary to look for a better efficiency of coopération tools in order to cope with a widening presence of french coopération throughout the world. This is why the reform of the general directorate must be fostered under the heading of intégration of human resources, procedures and structures.

Forty years at the Quai d'Orsay. In forty years, the natural scope for action of the ministry of Foreign Affairs has grown and been amplified according to the political, economie and technological revolutions which the world underwent. From inside, looking at fourty years of functioning of a big administration reveals big changes : certain discreet and hardly mentioned discriminations have disappeared, the framework of action of the ministry has changed, working conditions have evolved. Notwithstanding criticisms as well as successive and sometimes contradictory reforms, the Quai d'Orsay has constantly been able to adapt to modem challenges of diplomacy.

Diplomats' Wives. The real life of diplomats' wives is far away from current clichés. A life of travels has its charms, but it is also full of inconveniences for the officer's family. For professional life first, because one may forget any hope of a career. The fate of a spouse working for the private sector is probably much worse than the case of a civil servant. Second, the problem of children's éducation is the most complex to solve. Children's school life, with its successive ruptures and too short periods back in France, makes parents feel on the adventure path.

Diplomacy and Administration. At first glance, diplomacy seems yet another branch of administration. However, diplomats and administrators live in very different spheres, foreign to each other, often meeting but never coinciding. Administration is installed in hierarchical, closed and stable System, whereas diplomacy acts in a contractual and open System. This basic différence engenders many others which may affect as well the differences in functioning between the administrator and the diplomat or which may affect their psychology. These important différences should not hide the necessary complementarity between diplomacy and administrations.