untangling_the_web

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Finding Ministries of Foreign Affairs
To track down ministries of foreign affairs, you can try directories such as Google's,
Yahoo's, and the Open Directory Project, or you can go directly to one of these
resources that provide links to MFAs. Please keep in mind that no resource has
everything. Just because the MFA you seek isn't listed by any of these sources
does not mean it's not on the Web. Sometimes uri guessing will work, e.g.,
www.mfa.gov.yu for the former Yugoslavia; sometimes it won't, e.g., www.ud.se for
Sweden.
US Institute of Peace Library Foreign Affairs Ministries on the Web
http://www.usip.orq/library/formin.html
The site has about 140 links to most MFAs and a few other international agencies.
Current information.
Library of Congress: Portals to the World
http://www.loc.qov/rr/international/portals.html
First-rate alphabetical list of countries, with links to government sites. For most,
finding the MFA is a simple click to the Government, Politics, and Law link.
Stefano Baldi's Ministries of Foreign Affairs Online
http://hostings.diplomacy .edu/baldi/mofa.htm
Hosted by DipJo Directory site, this is a superb resource, with 110 links listed.
Ministries of Foreign Affairs from Lawresearch
http://www.lawresearch.com/v10/qlobal/ciministries.htm
Links to about 100 countries' MFA websites.
Finding Embassies
One task the Internet has certainly made much easier is locating information about
embassies, including their addresses, phone/fax numbers, names of individuals
associated with them, and even email addresses and, sometimes, websites. Even
more fortunately, there are several websites that specialize in providing information
about and links to foreign ministries on the web.
Also keep in mind that ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) are usually in the business
of providing information rather than protecting it, so they are often great resources
for learning a wide range of details about a country. I strongly recommend that
you always check out a country's MFA Web site for the most current
information about its missions. For example, a country such as Afghanistan has
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