The Selection and Tenure of Foreign Ministers Around the World

This Element focuses on Foreign Ministers and their background across the world and over two centuries.

Hanna Bäck (Author), Alejandro Quiroz Flores (Author), Jan Teorell (Author)

9781009475648, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 March 2024

78 pages
23.5 x 16 x 1.1 cm, 0.258 kg

Foreign ministers are prominent actors in foreign affairs, often second only to heads of government in their influence. Yet, despite the growing awareness of the importance of key actors, and their backgrounds, in the study of international relations, foreign ministers remain understudied. In this Element, we make an important empirical contribution by presenting an original dataset on the personal and professional background of foreign ministers, spanning thirteen countries and more than 200 years. We use these data to answer three questions: who are the foreign ministers, why are foreign ministers with particular features appointed, and why do some foreign ministers have longer tenure than others? We find that foreign ministers tend to be men of politics who are appointed both on the basis of their affinity to, and to complement the experiences of, the head of government. We also find that foreign ministers stay longer in office when they perform well or are expected to do so, but that they are more likely to lose their posts when conditions make heads of government more prone to 'pin blame' on them to deflect criticism from foreign policy failures.

1. Introduction
2. Foreign ministers since 1789
3. What explains who is appointed as foreign minister?
4. Why are foreign ministers fired?
5. Conclusions
Appendix
References.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]