Globalization and the foreign ministry: A comparative study of the United States, Canadian, and Slovenian models

Powered by the information revolution, globalization is ushering in one of history's most rapid changes in world politics. The state and its position in this millennium are different from the one it occupied in the seventeenth century. The governmental structure of the past was organized vertically and operated in an up-down fashion with high authority at the top. Significant pressures arising from new global entities provide the broad frame of reference for the effects of changes in the traditional role of the state. But the erosion of the power and influence of the state from within is every bit as important. At the heart of some of these internal changes, lies the foreign ministry.; The evolutionary changes of information technology have been so rapid that their effects and consequences are unclear. This presents an important problem in world politics and, in particular, the foreign ministry, because it has for the last four centuries been considered the interface of political, economic, and social activity between the state and the rest of the world. Diplomacy is the first line of defense in preventing international disputes and competition from leading to the unacceptable destruction of war. The question motivating this dissertation is: What evidence exists that changes in foreign ministries are a response to the processes of globalization? The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the effects of globalization on the role of the states has also affected their competency in managing foreign affairs. This is accomplished by reviewing and comparing the formal structure and functioning of the U.S, Canadian, and Slovenian models.; The qualitative and quantitative findings of this study reveal that the foreign ministries of these states developed differently from one another. These findings also reflect that in each case, no significant change has occurred in either the functioning or growth of each of these foreign ministries up until the last decade. The observations made about the current functioning and the responses of these three foreign ministries were significantly similar; therefore, the conclusion of this study is that a correlation exists between changes in the foreign ministry and globalization.