Welcome to e-Diplomacy. This site was created to spread awareness of diplomacy and international affairs while showing the integral role that the U.S. State Department plays in promoting U.S. foreign policy worldwide.

In newspapers, magazines and on television, there has been much talk of "globalization." This is the process through which the world is becoming more homogenous. This process requires increased communication with foreign nations. To guide The United States along this path, is the State Department.

To the average American, the State Department may seem to be distant, for it very rarely, if ever, comes into direct contact with our lives. We see the blue uniforms of the police, the red ambulances everyday, patroling our cities. The same cannot be said of ambassadors and foreign service officers.

Yet under the surface, those men and women work hard to safeguard our way of life. For example, the United States is closely watching the events in Venezuala, which is led by populist Hugo Chavez. Several years ago, he led a failed coup against the government and was jailed. Now, he has initiated wide sweeping reforms in that country. Many Americans may wonder why this would warrant U.S. scrutiny - "live and let live." What they do not know is that Venezuala is our main supplier of oil. When this is factored in, the significance of the situation becomes apparent. Venezualan wishes, U.S. security interests, fears of a dictarship, and other variables have to be accounted for in this complex equation. Welcome to the confusing and complicated world of diplomacy in a "multi-polar" world.

Recently, the normalization of trade relations of China, and the protests in Seattle and Washington against the World Trade Bank (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have made headlines in papers across the country. The State Department plays a key role in representing U.S. interests in the WTO and IMF, and has played an important part in trade relations with China.

Thus, the truth is that no matter how visible the Department is, it plays a crucial role in safeguarding and promoting our way of life.

With this in mind, our site provides a background of major U.S. policy initiatives over American history. In addition, this site contains a brief analysis of major U.S. treaties and their texts. This information is found under the "Diplomatic History" section.

This website also contains information conerning the State Department. This includes a brief synopsis of the Departments mission, a history of the State Department, a biography of current Secretary of State Madeine Albright, and a list of careers available at the Department. Additionally, this section also examines U.S. policies with respect to individual areas of the world. All of this information is reachable through the button marked "U.S. State Department".

The "Essays" section of this page contains several essays examining current diplomatic initiatives as well as essays which analyse foreign relations throughout history.

The "Teacher" section contains lesson plans and other information that is designed to be taught on in a high school level course.

We hope that this site will help provide valuable information to all those who visit.

Dennis Huggins, Jamie Kendall, David Mullaly and Seth Roberts


 This site an entry at Thinkquest