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Diplomatic rank
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Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.
l the early 19th century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. The relative ranks of diplomats from different nations had been a source of considerable dispute, made more so by the insistence of major nations to have their diplomats ranked higher than those of minor nations, to be reflected in such things as table seatings.
In an attempt to resolve the problem, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 formally established an international system of diplomatic ranks.
The four ranks within the system are:
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ("Ambassador").
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Encyclopedia
Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.
Traditional European diplomacy
Ranks
Until the early 19th century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. The relative ranks of diplomats from different nations had been a source of considerable dispute, made more so by the insistence of major nations to have their diplomats ranked higher than those of minor nations, to be reflected in such things as table seatings.
In an attempt to resolve the problem, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 formally established an international system of diplomatic ranks.
The four ranks within the system are:
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ("Ambassador"). Ambassadors are formal representatives of the head of state. Equivalent, and in some traditions primus inter pares, is the papal nuncio, the ambassador of the Holy See. In Commonwealth countries, the equivalent title that is normally used is High Commissioner; this person represents the government rather than the head of state.
- Ambassador-at-Large. Ambassadors at Large are diplomats of the highest rank, or ministers who are accredited to represent the country. Most ambassadors are limited to a single-country diplomatic mission. By contrast, ambassadors-at-large operate on a non-single country basis, working in several, usually neighboring countries, a region or sometimes an intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations or European Union. Alternatively, ambassadors-at-large may be assigned a particular issue and tasked with advising and assisting the head of government and foreign minister on this issue; one example is the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. When it is necessary to distinguish between ambassadors-at-large and single-country ambassadors, the term ambassador-in-residence is used.
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Usually just referred to as a Minister, an Envoy is a diplomatic representative with plenipotentiary powers (i.e. full authority to represent the head of state), but ranking below an Ambassador. While common before World War II, the title is now effectively obsolete.
- Minister Resident or Resident Minister, or simply Minister, is the, now extremely rare, lowest rank of full chief of mission, only above chargé d'affaires (who are considered as substitutes or acting chiefs of mission).
- Note that both the Envoy (Minister Plenipotentiary) and the Minister Resident are diplomatic ministers, which are not the same thing as government ministers or religious ministers. A diplomatic mission headed by either type of Minister would be called a Legation. As they formally represent the head of state, they are entitled to use the title "His/Her Excellency", which originally was reserved for Ambassadors.
- Chargé d'affaires ("chargé"). This term means "in charge of affairs" in French. As the title suggests, a chargé d'affaires is in charge of the affairs of a diplomatic mission in the usually temporary absence of a more senior diplomat A chargé d'affaires ad interim or simply "a.i." is generally serving as chief of mission during the temporary absence of the head of mission, while the chargé d'affaires e.p. or en pied maintains the same functions and duties as an ambassador, and is accredited not to the head of state but to the foreign minister of the receiving state.
As it turned out, this system of diplomatic rank did nothing to solve the problem of the nations' precedence. The appropriate diplomatic ranks used would be determined by the precedence among the nations; thus the exchanges of ambassadors (the highest diplomatic rank) would be reserved among major nations, or close allies and related monarchies. In contrast, a major nation would probably send just an envoy to a minor nation, who in return would send an envoy to the major nation. As a result, the United States did not use the rank of ambassador until their emergence as a major world power at the end of the 19th century. Indeed, until the mid-20th century, the majority of diplomats in the world were of the rank of envoy.
After World War II, it was no longer considered acceptable to treat some nations as inferior to others given the United Nations doctrine of equality of sovereign states; therefore most legations were upgraded to embassies, and the use of the rank of Minister for diplomatic missions' highest-ranking officials gradually ceased. The last U.S. Legation, in Sofia, Bulgaria, was upgraded to an Embassy on November 28, 1966. Where those ranks still exist, their incumbents usually act as embassy section chiefs or Deputy Chief of mission.
Modern diplomats
Bilateral diplomacy
In modern diplomatic practice there are a number of diplomatic ranks below Ambassador. Since most missions are now headed by an Ambassador, these ranks now rarely indicate a mission's (or its host nation's) relative importance, but rather reflect the diplomat's individual seniority within their own nation's diplomatic career path and in the diplomatic corps in the host nation:
- Ambassador (High Commissioner in Commonwealth missions); Ambassador at large
- Minister
- Minister-Counselor
- Counselor
- First Secretary
- Second Secretary
- Third Secretary
- Attaché
- Assistant Attaché
Chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires and chargé d'affaires, ad interim (or simply a.i.) is a separate title used when an Ambassador (or other head of mission) is not present, has not been appointed, or is otherwise not able to discharge duties in a specific location. Generally, the ad interim (temporary) "chargé" (as they are often referred to) is another staff member (usually the second-most senior officer) accredited in the host country for the head of mission's temporary absences. In such cases, the diplomatic mission advises the local government (usually the foreign ministry) by means of a diplomatic note that a specific individual has been appointed chargé for a specific or indefinite period of time. In contrast to an Ambassador, the specific agreement of the host government is not required.
Attaché
The term attaché is used for any diplomatic agent who does not fit in the standard diplomatic ranks, often because they are not (or were not traditionally) members of the sending country's diplomatic service or foreign ministry, and were therefore only "attached" to the diplomatic mission. The most frequent use is for military attachés, but the diplomatic title may be used for any specific individual or position as required. Since administrative and technical staff benefit from only limited diplomatic immunity, some countries may routinely appoint support staff as attachés. Attaché does not, therefore, denote any rank or position (except in Soviet and post-Soviet diplomatic services, where attaché is the lowest diplomatic rank of a career diplomat). Note that many traditional functionary roles, such as press attaché or cultural attaché, are not formal titles in diplomatic practice, although they may be used as a matter of custom.
Usage worldwide
Most countries worldwide have some form of internal rank, roughly parallel to the diplomatic ranks, which are used in their foreign service or civil service in general. The correspondence is not exact, however, for various reasons, including the fact that according to diplomatic usage, all Ambassadors are of equal rank, but clearly Ambassadors of more senior rank are sent to more important postings. Some countries may make specific links or comparisons to military ranks.
In the United States Foreign Service
In the United States Foreign Service, a system of personal ranks is applied which roughly corresponds to these diplomatic ranks. Personal ranks are differentiated as "Senior Foreign Service" (SFS) or "Member of the Foreign Service".
The SFS ranks, in descending order, are Career Ambassador, awarded to career diplomats with extensive and distinguished service; Career Minister, the highest regular senior rank; Minister-Counselor; and Counselor. In U.S. terms, these correspond to 4-, 3-, 2- and 1-star General and Flag officers in the military, respectively. Officers at these ranks may serve as Ambassadors and the most senior positions in diplomatic missions.
Members of the Foreign Service consists of two groups, Foreign Service Officers and Foreign Service Specialists. Ranks descend from the highest, FS-1, equivalent to a full Colonel in the military, to FS-9, the lowest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service personnel system. (Most Foreign Service Member Career Candidates begin at the FS-5 or FS-6 level.) Personal rank is distinct from and should not be confused with the diplomatic or consular rank assigned at the time of appointment to a particular diplomatic or consular mission.
In a large mission, several Senior Foreign Service Officers may serve under the Ambassador as Minister-Counselors, Counselors, First Secretaries, and Attaches; in a small mission, an FS-2 may serve as the lone Minister-Counselor of Embassy.
In the British Diplomatic Service
As in the U.S. Foreign Service, the British Diplomatic Service differentiates between officers in the "Senior Management Structure" (SMS; equivalent to the Senior Civil Service grades of the Home Civil Service) and those in the "delegated grades". SMS officers are classified into three pay-bands, and will serve in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as (in descending order of seniority) Permanent Under-Secretary, Directors-General, Directors, or Heads of Group; overseas they will be Ambassadors (High Commissioners in Commonwealth countries), or Consuls-General, Deputy Heads of Mission or Counsellors for larger posts. (Deputy Heads of Mission at the historically most significant Embassies, for example those in Washington and Paris, are known as Ministers.)
In the "delegated grades", officers are graded by number from 1 to 7; the grades are grouped into bands lettered A-D (grades 1 and 2 are in Band A; 3 in B; 4 and 5 in C; and 6 and 7 in D). Overseas, B3-grade officers are Third Secretaries; C4s are Second Secretaries; and C5s and D6s are First Secretaries. D7 officers are usually Deputy Heads of Mission in medium-sized posts or Heads of Mission in small posts.
In the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
As with other Commonwealth public servants, officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are graded into four broadbands (BB1 to BB4), with the Senior Executive Service (SES Band 1 to SES Band 3) following above.
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Consuls-General usually come from the Senior Executive Service, although in smaller posts the head of mission may be a BB4 officer. Generally speaking (and there are variation in ranking and nomenclature between posts and positions), Counsellors are represented by BB4 officers; Consuls and First and Second Secretaries are BB3 officers and Third Secretaries and Vice Consuls are BB2 officers. DFAT only posts a limited number of low level BB1 staff abroad. In large missions an SES officer who is not the head of mission could be posted with the rank of Minister.
Multilateral diplomacy
Furthermore, outside this traditional pattern of bilateral diplomacy, as a rule on a permanent residency basis (though sometimes doubling elsewhere), certain ranks and positions were created specifically for multilateral diplomacy:
- An Ambassador at Large is equivalent of an Ambassador and assigned specific tasks or region in which he is assigned various assignments aimed at multi track diplomacy.
- A permanent representative is the equivalent of an ambassador, normally of that rank, but accredited to an international body (mainly by member—and possibly observer states), not to a head of state.
- A resident representative (or sometimes simply representative) is the equivalent — in rank and privileges — of an ambassador, but accredited by an international organization (generally a United Nations agency, or a Bretton Woods institution) to a country's government. The resident representative typically heads the country office of that international organization within that country.
- A special ambassador is a government's specialist diplomat in a particular field, not posted in residence, but often traveling around the globe.
- The U.S. Trade Representative is a diplomat of cabinet rank, in charge of U.S. delegations in multilateral trade negotiations (since 1962).
Special envoys
- The Secretary-General of the United Nations personally mandates Special Envoys for a particular field. Examples include:
- United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa (who deals with HIV/AIDS in Africa)
- United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change (who deals with climate change)
- United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo (Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo)
- United Nations Special Envoy for Darfur
Other Special Envoys have been created ad hoc. Individual countries, often regional powers, have done the same:
Consular counterpart
Formally the consular career (ranking in descending order: Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, Consular Agent; equivalents without consular immunity include Honorary Consul-General, Honorary Consul, and Honorary Vice-Consul) forms a separate hierarchy. Many countries do not internally have a separate consular path or stream, and the meaning of "consular" responsibilities and functions will differ from country to country. Other titles, including "Vice Consul-General", have existed in the past. Consular titles may be used concurrently with diplomatic titles if the individual is assigned to an embassy. Diplomatic immunity is more limited for consular officials without other diplomatic accreditation, and broadly limited to immunity with respect to their official duties.
At a separate consular post, the official will have only a consular title. Officials at consular posts may therefore have consular titles, but not be involved in traditional consular activities, and actually be responsible for trade, cultural, or other matters.
Consular officers, being nominally more distant from the politically sensitive aspects of diplomacy, can more easily render a wide range of services to private citizens, enterprises, et cetera. They may be more numerous since diplomatic missions are posted only in a nation's capital, while consular officials are stationed in various other cities as well. However, it is not uncommon for individuals to be transferred from one hierarchy to the other, and for consular officials to serve in a capital carrying out strictly consular duties within the 'consular section' of a diplomatic post, e.g. within an embassy. Some countries routinely provide their Embassy officials with consular commissions, including those without formal consular responsibilities, since a consular commission allows the individual to legalize documents, sign certain documents, and undertake certain other necessary functions.
Depending on the practice of the individual country, "consular services" may be limited to services provided for citizens or residents of the sending country, or extended to include, for example, visa services for nationals of the host country.
FOREIGN MINISTRY OVERSEAS EMBASSIES FOREIGN DELEGATIONS INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Secretary General
Under Secretary General
Golden Director Ambassador General Delegate General Representative General
Silver Director High Ambassador High Delegate High Representative
Bronze Director Ambassador Delegate Representative
Golden Executive Minister General Minister General Minister General
Silver Executive Minister Minister Minister
Bronze Executive Counselor Counselor Counselor
Golden Manager Consul General/First Secretary First Secretary First Secretary
Silver Manager Consul/Second Secretary Silver Delegate Official Second Secretary
Bronze Manager Vice Consul/Third Secretary Bronze Delegate Official Third Secretary
Golden Officer Embassy Official Delegation Official Diplomatic Official
Silver Officer
Bronze Officer
GOLDEN ESTABLISHMENTS SILVER ESTABLISHMENTS BRONZE ESTABLISHMENTS
Ambassador General/Delegate General/Representative General
High Ambassador/Delegate/Representative
Ambassador/Delegate/Representative
Minister General
Minister Minister Minister
Counselor Counselor Counselor
Consul-General/First Secretary First Secretary First Secretary
Consul/Second Secretary Second Secretary Second Secretary
Third Secretary Third Secretary Third Secretary
Ambassadors/Delegates/Representatives General to 4 nations + 4 organisations+1DG
Sources and references
- Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Archives and Library (mainly in French)
- Pauly-Wissowa (encyclopaedia in German, on Antiquity)
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