Ministry of Diplomacy

The Ministry of Diplomacy of the Golden Empire was the government department with the authority to conduct foreign relations on behalf of Queen Rin Sakaros. Given the Empire's stated goal of incorporating all occupied systems into itself, in practice the Ministry of Diplomacy existed to persuade unallied systems to join the Empire voluntarily.

The Ministry was led by the Chief Diplomat, who sat on the Grand Council of the Golden Empire and supervised the diplomatic efforts of the Ministry's officers, subject only to the direction of the Sovereign.

Personnel
Applicants to serve as diplomats and negotiators had to meet high education requirements, including completed tertiary education with courses in politics, economics, and history. Applicants also needed to demonstrate fluency in Orhyo and pass stringent background checks. Prospective diplomats were trained at the Royal Diplomatic Academy, studying for four months. Subjects included a detailed analysis of the history, politics, and economics of the Empire; discussion of non-member system cultures, using case studies of recently admitted systems; practical courses using protocol droids and other translation aids; and training seminars on various agencies of the Royal government which were often of interest or use to new member systems.

Support personnel, maintaining infrastructure and conducting office and procurement business, had other hiring requirements and were trained separately from the diplomatic officers.

Diplomats who had served at least two years could volunteer for service in the Exploration Corps. Senior personnel could become managers for regional offices, responsible for broader territories of newly discovered systems. The Chief Diplomat, appointed to head the entire Ministry, was usually drawn from senior regional management.

Other roles
Aside from persuading new systems to join the Empire, diplomats were occasionally tasked with negotiating peace with the Empire's enemies (although such peace usually involved the enemy becoming part of the Empire anyway).

The Office of Protocol in the Ministry handled all matters of state visits of the Sovereign or other high personages to new or potential member systems, instructing local government on the fine points of Royal protocol and ensuring no accidental offense was given on either side.