Date: Mon May 10 00:07:53 EDT 1999
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--demarche
demarche (day-MARSH) noun

1. A course of action; a maneuver.

2. A diplomatic representation or protest.

3. A statement or protest addressed by citizens to public authorities.

[French, from Old French demarche, gait, from demarchier, to march : de- + marchier, to march (probably of Germanic origin.]

"On January 22nd, the European Union sent a demarche to the State Department, demanding that the federal government get its unruly provincials in line."
A state's foreign policy: The Mass that roared, The Economist, 8 Feb 1997.