attaché
Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned ('attached') to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Depending on custom, 'attaché' may be modified to correspond to the gender (i.e., 'attachée').
The term normally denotes an official, under the authority of an Ambassador or other head of a diplomatic mission, who serves either as a diplomat or as a member of the support staff. He monitors various issues related to areas of intervention. To this end, he undertakes the planning for decisions which will be taken and makes all necessary arrangements, manages the agenda, conducts research for the study of particular matters, and acts as representative when necessary.
Sometimes an attaché has special responsibilities or expertise, often specified by that field. Examples include a cultural attaché, labor attaché, legal attaché, military/defense attaché (or more specifically, naval attaché, air attaché), press attaché, agricultural attaché, commercial attaché, and science attaché.
A related use for the term is in the phrase attaché case, similar to a briefcase.
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Military attaché
Typically, a military attaché serves on the diplomatic staff of an embassy or consulate while retaining a military commission.
Holy See
The title is also used in reference to diplomacy and in the hierarchical administration of the Catholic Church, specifically in the Roman Curia, in cases where a priest, usually in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See or else released for service to the Holy See, serves in a nunciature in a given country or to an international or intergovernmental organization. Especially in the latter cases, the official often provides a particular expertise in the service of the Church, thus, legal or otherwise.
Belgium
In the ministries of the Belgian federal state the term is used, since 2005 replacing the term adjunct-adviseur (in Dutch) or conseiller-adjoint (in French), normally used for college graduates, one rank under the head of a competence section.
See also
- Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War
- Military attachés and war correspondents in the First World War
Notes
References
- Cullen, Glen T. (1999). "Preparing for battle: Learning Lessons in the US Army during World War I." U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC), Combined Arms Research Library.
- ---. Office of the Chief of Staff, Second (military) Information Division. (1906). Reports of the Military Observers attached to the Armies in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, Vol. I; (1907). Vol. II. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- Sisemore, James D. (2003). "The Russo-Japanese War, Lessons Not Learned." CGSC.
- ---. (1907). The Russo-Japanese War, Reports from British Officers Attached to the Japanese Forces in the Field, Vol. I; (1908). Vol. II. London: General Staff.