foreign ministry

diplomacy

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diplomatic personnel

  • Taking prisoners
    In diplomacy: Personnel

    …trained, career diplomats serve their foreign ministry abroad or staff it at home. Foreign ministries are similarly organized. They are led by the foreign minister, who is usually a member of the cabinet or dominant political body. In most countries, except those governed by dictatorships, he often belongs to the…

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diplomatic tasks

  • Taking prisoners
    In diplomacy: Diplomatic tasks

    The foreign ministry (perhaps with cabinet involvement) also specifies the diplomatic strategy to be used. Usually this is specific to the goals and circumstances. For example, the Marshall Plan, through which the United States provided several western and southern European countries with financial assistance after World…

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history of diplomacy

Quick Facts
Born:
March 12, 1910, Toyohama, Kagawa prefecture, Shikoku, Japan
Died:
June 12, 1980, Tokyo (aged 70)

Ōhira Masayoshi (born March 12, 1910, Toyohama, Kagawa prefecture, Shikoku, Japan—died June 12, 1980, Tokyo) was the prime minister of Japan from 1978 to 1980.

Ōhira was a converted Christian who rose from rural poverty and worked his way through what is now Hitosubashi University. After graduation (1936), he pursued a career in the Finance Ministry and later (1952) was elected to the House of Representatives, holding his seat for 10 terms.

Ōhira became well known for his negotiating abilities. In 1960, as Ikeda Hayato’s chief cabinet secretary, he helped stabilize the country after the anti-American confusion in the late 1950s. As minister of foreign affairs in the second Ikeda cabinet (1962), he prepared for restoration of relations with South Korea. Later, as foreign minister in the Tanaka cabinet, he paved the way for normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China. In 1978, as a result of having won the presidency of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), Ōhira was elected prime minister. Less than two years later, however, he called a general election after a number of LDP members joined the opposition in a vote of no confidence. Ōhira unexpectedly died during the election campaign.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.