Ministries of Foreign Affairs have reacted in various ways to this (threat of a) reduced role. Starting from the conviction that co-ordination is power (to paraphrase Francis Bacon), one finds in most ministries of Foreign Affairs an enhanced concentration on this co-ordination function, so that a 'farming out' of international dossiers to other departments can be. avoided as much as possible. This can tack on different shapes. In Great Britain diplomats receive a more specialised training so that their expertise is equal to that of the technical ministries. In other states such as France one tries to put diplomats at the head of the international divisions of other ministries. Elsewhere experts from other ministries are introduced in the department itself as well as in the foreign embassies and the delegations. This phenomenon has become so important in the United States that less than thirty per cent of overseas personnel now comes from the States Department. The American ambassador more and more often plays the role of animator of a multidisciplinary team of technicins in which the traditionally trained diplomat is in the minority.