foreign affairs

plural noun

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Definition of foreign affairs

: matters having to do with international relations and with the interests of the home country in foreign countries

Recent Examples of foreign affairs from the Web

The United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said that the battle over Hodeida is essential to break a stalemate in the civil war, which otherwise could drag on for years.

— Washington Post, "Fierce fighting intensifies outside Yemen’s Hodeida airport," 15 June 2018
The entourage also will include other officials of Spain’s ministries of economy and foreign affairs, and U.S. Ambassador to Spain Duke Buchan.

— scott huddleston, San Antonio Express-News, "Spanish royals’ itinerary in San Antonio: history, art and, of course, food," 15 June 2018
Federica Mogherini, the commission’s foreign affairs and security policy chief, told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

— tania rabesandratana, Science | AAAS, "European Union, worried about rising tensions, plans to boost military research," 15 June 2018
Holland didn't know Oren Dorell, a beloved father, husband and fearless USA TODAY foreign affairs reporter before he was hit on the night of June 8 in northeast Washington, D.C.

— sean rossman, USA TODAY, "Strangers come together to try to save USA TODAY reporter Oren Dorell in deadly hit-and-run," 15 June 2018
The United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said that the battle over Hodeida is essential to break a stalemate in the civil war, which otherwise could drag on for years.

— ahmed al-haj, chicagotribune.com, "Fighting intensifies outside Yemen's Hodeida airport as death toll reaches 280," 15 June 2018
The top West Wing aide on foreign affairs, John Bolton, the national security adviser, has also ceded ground to Mr. Pompeo.

— michael c. bender, WSJ, "Trump, More Independent of West Wing Advisers, Relies on Cabinet," 15 June 2018
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a selfie with Singapore's foreign affairs minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, while touring the Esplanade in Singapore on June 11.

— Bloomberg.com, "Bloomberg’s Week in Pictures," 14 June 2018
Power vacuums and power shifts are filled rapidly in politics and foreign affairs.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "The absolute chaos of Donald Trump's G7 meeting (and what it means moving forward)," 11 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'foreign affairs.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.