Text 2 . Diplomatic mission

A permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an embassy or chancery, and the person in charge of the mission is known as an ambassador. The ambassadorial residence is generally called the embassy. Some ambassadors will live outside of the chancery. For example, the American ambassador to Russia lives in a mansion known as Spaso House outside of the chancery.

All missions to the United Nations are known simply as permanent missions, while EU Member States' missions to the European Union are known as permanent representations and the head of such a mission is typically both a permanent representative and an ambassador. European Union missions abroad are known as delegations. Some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff: a Vatican mission is headed by a nuncio (Latin "envoy") and consequently known as an apostolic nunciature. Libya's missions were for a long time known as people's bureau and the head of the mission was a secretary.

In the past a diplomatic mission headed by a lower-ranking official (an envoy or minister resident) was known as a legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are effectively obsolete, the designation of legation is no longer used today. (See diplomatic rank.)

Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as high commissions and their heads are high commissioners. This is due to the fact that ambassadors are exchanged between foreign countries, but since the beginning of the Commonwealth, member countries have nominally maintained that they are not foreign to one another (the same reason as the naming of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office).

A consulate is similar to (but not the same as) a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C., but also maintains seven consulate-generals and four consulates. The person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy (to serve the region of the capital) in what is sometimes called a consular section.

In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure. This is less drastic than cutting diplomatic relations completely, and the mission will still continue operating more or less normally, but it will now be headed by a chargé d'affaires (usually the deputy chief of mission) who may have limited powers. (A chargé d'affaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of mission's term and the beginning of another).

The term "embassy" is often used to refer to the building or compound housing an ambassador's offices and staff. Technically, "embassy" refers to the diplomatic delegation itself, while the office building in which they work is known as a chancery, but this distinction is rarely used in practice. Ambassadors reside in ambassadorial residences, which enjoy the same rights as missions.

• Prepare a presentation on an outstanding English, American or Soviet/Russian diplomat.

Speak on the following:

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way. ~Daniele Vare

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. ~Robert Frost

Diplomat: A person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. ~Caskie Stinett, Out of the Red, 1960

Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
~Bisaac Goldberg

When a diplomat says yes he means perhaps; when he says perhaps he means no; when he says no he is no diplomat. ~Author Unknown

A diplomat's life is made up of three ingredients: Protocol, Geritol, and alcohol. ~Adlai E. Stevenson

A Foreign Secretary is forever poised between the cliché and the indiscretion. ~Harold MacMillan

An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth. ~Henry Wotton, Reliquiæ Wottonianæ

I must acknowledge, once and for all, that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis. ~ Star Trek, Mr. Spock

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