Foreign and Colonies Office (Sivad) (Classic Journeys Era)

The Foreign and Colonies Office, commonly called the Foreign Office, is a Ministry of the Government of Sivad. It is responsible for the external relations of the Government of Sivad, both with other worlds and with the Colonies. The head of the Foreign Office is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Colonial Affairs, usually called the Foreign Secretary, currently Dame Amanda Ramlan.

The Foreign and Colonies Office was formed in 3003 with the merger of the Colonies Ministry and the Foreign Office. The Colonies Office had been formed in 3000 in response to the addition of Nialesia to the Sivadian territories. The Foreign Office currently has oversight for four worlds - Waldheim, Nialesia, Portmeiron, and Deserata.

Goals and Purposes
Mission of the Sivadian Foreign Ministry is to promote the interests of the Kingdom of Sivad and to contribute to a strong intergalactic community.

The Ministry hopes to achieve four basic goals:

1. Security
We shall ensure the security of the Kingdom of Sivad and Her Colonies and peace for our people by promoting intergalactic stability, fostering our defense alliances and actively promoting arms control.

2. Prosperity
We shall make maximum use of our diplomatic relations to promote interplanetary trade and economic prosperity for all Sivadian people.

3.Quality of Life
We shall work with others to protect the galaxy's natural resources, to counter the menace of terrorism and crime and to ensure justice and well-being for all individuals.

4.Mutual Respect
We shall work through diplomacy to develop understanding between cultures and to protect the rights and liberties of all individuals.

Recent History
Despite these lofty ideals, in recent years the office that is today known as the Foreign Affairs and Colonies Office has become one of the greatest embarrassments of the Government of the Kingdom of Sivad, plagued by a string of personal scandals involving its officials, punctuated by significant foreign policy disasters. Scandal seemed to follow on the heels of the appointment of Amanda Ramlan to the position of Secretary for Foreign Affairs when she was framed by fellow Cabinet Members for trying to incite war with the Parallax. Political maneuverings would be quickly overshadowed by debacles with the discovery of Nialesia in late 2001, a planet inhabited by a primitive culture who were genetic relatives to Sivad who had fled the planet during the Kretonian Invasion. This led to the creation of the Colonies Office headed by Commodore Falkona Devoras. Despite aiding the Nialesians in the curing of a plague, the idea of permanent Sivadian was not well-received with the native population, a situation which was poorly handled by Devoras and led to her dismissal from the post.

One of the goals of the Truffaut administration was the formation of an interstellar diplomatic body, a goal which was not be realized during his tenure because of the domestic upheaval which he perpertrated but unlawfully trying to maintain control of the Sivadian Government. Though stained by the affair, Secretary Ramlan rose the position of First Councillor, the first under the newly restored King Richard I. During this time the position of Secretary for Foreign Affairs was held by Yevgeni Sergeytov. Though he came to office with his own share of scandal, the office at this time was spared attention thanks to the embattled First Councillor. Unfortunately it also managed to overshadow Sivad’s most significant success the formation of OATO, an organization formed for the purpose of mutual security against Nall aggression. It did not take long for Sivad foreign policy oto be scrutinized by its OATO allies first when it broke with the body in 3003 to take military action against King colin Neidermeyer during the Moebius Effect and then with the discovery of  Waldheim by Baron Cobb, which he claimd for the Sivadian Crown. Many alledged that this was in direct violation of the OATO charter ignoring the freedoms of the Waldheimers who had lived in peace apart from the rest of the universe for many years. Due to a string of absolutely disastrous domestic upheaval, Sivad foreign policy was largely ineffective and dormant for a number of months. The only which restored OATO in any capacity was sheer necessity during renewed aggression with the Nall in 3005. Through a string of chances and mischances, Ramlan has returned to Office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, now renamed the Office of Foreign Affairs and Colonies, in time to oversee one of Sivad’s gravest foreign policy disasters, the murder of 60,000 ATRV infected Waldheimers. Though the deaths can be directly attributed to Volari, Sivad has yet to face the full consequence of its ignorance and inaction during the crisis.