A démarche (from the French word whose literal meaning is "step" or "solicitation" ) has come to refer either to: Diplomatic démarches are delivered to the appropriate official of a government or organization. Démarches generally seek to persuade, inform or gather information from a foreign government. Governments may also use a démarche to protest or object to actions by a foreign government. Informally, the word is sometimes used as a verb to describe making or receiving such correspondence.

Démarches by the United States

The U.S. government defines démarche as "a request or intercession with a foreign official, e.g., a request for support of a policy, or a protest about the host government's policy or actions". The US government issues démarches to foreign governments through "front-channel cable" instructions from the United States Department of State. Any Department of State officer or other official under the authority of the chief of mission can make a démarche. Unless the Department of State provides specific instructions as to rank (for example: "the Ambassador should call on the Foreign Minister"), the embassy has discretion to determine who should make the presentation and which officials in the host government should receive it.

Preparation of the démarche

Démarche instruction cables from the Department of State include the following elements:

Delivery and follow-up action

Upon receipt of démarche instructions from the Department of State, embassies should make every effort to deliver the démarche to the appropriate foreign government officials as soon as possible. After delivering the démarche, the embassy should report to the Department of State via front-channel cable. The reporting cable should include the instruction cable as a reference, but it need not repeat the talking points transmitted in that cable. It should provide the name and title of the person to whom the démarche was made, and record that official's response to the presentation. As appropriate, the reporting cable should also describe any specific follow-up action needed by the embassy, Department of State, or the foreign government.

Citations

General references