Contents
• Foreign Policy-Background and Definition
• Determinants of Foreign Policy
• External determinants of Foreign Policy
• International System or Power structure
• International Law
• International Organizations
• Alliances
• Military strategy and Arms Race
3.
Contents
• Domestic Determinantsof Foreign Policy
• Culture and History
• Geography, Size and Population
• Economic developments and Natural Resources
• Military Capabilities
• Political System
• Personality and Character of the leader
• Political Parties and interest groups
• Press and Public Opinion
• Conclusion
4.
Foreign Policy-Background
• Fromtreaty of Westphalia (1648) till the end of second world war.
• Establishment of UNO
• Process of decolonization
• Emergence of Bi-Polar politics (Both part of it- As a super power or as a
part of this world order as a peripheral states)
• Changing concept of sovereignty and Bipolar Politics.
• Modern World under Unipolar politics
• Globalization and economic concern with the Foreign Policy
• 21st
century and blame game of terrorism.
5.
Definition of ForeignPolicy
• Like other social science-Foreign Policy term with ambiguity
definition.
• George Modelski, defines it as
• “the system of activities evolved by communities for changing the behavior of other
states and for adjusting their own activities to the international environment. Foreign
policy must throw light on the ways states attempt to change, and succeed in changing
the behavior of other states.”
• According to Joseph Frankel,
• “foreign policy consists of decisions and actions, which involves to some appreciable
extent relations between one state and others”
6.
• Thus, aforeign policy is a vision of
• a desired outcome or
• set of interests in interacting with another state/actor,
• the strategies and ideas used in achieving these goals, and
• the available resources at a state’s disposable,
• in guiding her interaction with other states.
7.
Determinants of ForeignPolicy
• In Hill’s insight,
• “foreign policy is the hinge of domestic and international politics” .
• There is also consensus among scholars that foreign policy serves as an intersection point of
domestic and international politics.
• Thus, from here we can say that, the foreign policy of every state is influenced by mainly two
determinants;
• international or external and
• domestic or internal.
• However, the linkage between international and domestic determinants has long been a widely
debated topic in the field of international relations and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) in particular.
• While others argue that domestic politics and foreign policy are two ‘independent’ arenas of issue,
others are of the view that foreign policy and domestic politics are ‘interdependent’ and could spill
over into each other.
8.
External determinants ofForeign Policy
• The international environment plays an important role in shaping the foreign policy of
every state. Since foreign policy in general is about the interaction of a state with
another, this interaction only takes place at the international level and as such, cannot
be ignored in analyzing the foreign policy of any state.
• As scholars in this school acknowledge the importance of both international and
domestic factors, however, they argue that international factors play a more important
role in determining country’s foreign policy.
• The main external factors that determine the foreign policy of a state are but not limited
to:
• the international system or power structure,
• international law,
• international organizations,
• alliances,
• military strength or arm race.
9.
The International System
•The modern state system has been in existence since the treaty of
Westphalia in 1648.
• The establishment of friendly and cooperative relations between
states is the aims of a sound foreign policy.
• Foreign policy is essentially shaped by one’s relative power within the
international system.
• The world is continuously changing, new events and personalities
create fresh foreign policy problems for all concerned.
10.
• To selectevents at random,
• the impact of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917,
• the rise of Communist Power in China in 1949,
• the rise of De Gaulle to power in France and Hitler in Germany,
• the emergence of new states in Asia and Africa;
• Dying colonialism into capitalism and communism
• brought about significant changes in the power structure and that has
impacted the foreign policy of many states.
11.
International law
• Theinternational law is generally defined as a
• set of rules that regulate relations between states.
• Cali defined it as
• “a system of rules created deliberately and explicitly by states. Where states have
expressly willed to be bound by the rules”.
• International law regulates the foreign policy of states, and has a
binding function in foreign policy as it offers a legal framework
through which states should interact.
12.
• Realism, arguethat international law has little or no independent effect on foreign
policy.
• Henkin, for instance argued that one of the major purposes of foreign policy to
• “maintain international order so that states can pursue national interests.”
• Second, a nation is its own judge and can interpret the law to serve its own purposes.
• Finally, each nation in world affairs is its own sheriff, who must enforce the law for
itself or organize a sympathetic posse.
• Thus in a realist view,
• states have the tendency to give priority to their national interests and then sometimes violate legal norms
when fundamental interests are at risk.
• Leaders are claimed to pursue their national interests (broadly defined to include military security and economic
prosperity) without regard for international law.
13.
International Organizations
• Currently,there are almost 300 International Organizations (both
active and inactive) in the world. Many International Organizations
(IOs) play an enormous role in the current international system.
• Such organizations are considered as an active actors in the field of
International Relations, as they facilitate the interaction between
states at the global level.
• A state’s foreign policies is thus, often affected by its membership of
international, regional and sub-regional organizations, since they
surrender partially their sovereignty to these organizations.
14.
• According torealistic approach that
• the United Nations and most other international bodies have no way to implement their
decisions and that nation states have all the real power in the international system.
• Mearsheimer for instance, argued that international institutions
• “are basically a reflection of the distribution of power in the world. They are based on
the self-interested calculations of the great powers, and they have no independent effect
on state behavior.”
• IOs are considered as only a marginal factor in world politics. This is otherwise regarded
as the ‘bottom-up’ perspective; i.e., how the foreign policies of states impact
international organizations.
15.
• The Constructivistand liberal institutionalist account, took a different view;
• the ‘top-down’ perspective.
• How international organizations impact the foreign policies of states.
• In the constructivist account,
• international organizations to a larger extent serve as modifiers of state behavior and as independent actor.
• The realization of mutual independence,
• has given birth to a large number of international and regional organizations,
• arrangements,
• agreements, and trading blocks.
• The European Union, ASEAN, African Union, OPEC, ECOWAS and several others have been major players in
the international system.
• Hence, it is obvious that the foreign policy of every state is now becoming conscious of these organizations,
trading blocks, and economic and trade agreements.
• Thus, international organization constitute a determinant factor in the foreign policies of states.
16.
Alliances
• Alliance formulationis considered
• to be one of the most curious aspects of international relations.
• It is regarded as the cornerstone of security policy;
• Alliance formation is considered as a strategy that states use in the formulation and
implementation of their foreign policies.
• Clinton and Palmer, examined the consequences of alliance formation
for other foreign policies of a state,
• including defense spending and the initiation of militarized disputes,
• using a theory of foreign policy that is based on several assumptions.
17.
• Through thealliances, states focused on these objectives
• First, states pursue two goods-change and maintenance-through their foreign
policy.
• Second, states select a portfolio of policies designed to produce the most
preferred mix of the two goods.
• Third, all foreign policy behavior including alliance requires resources.
• Fourth, states are rational in their allocation of resources.
18.
• Alliances likeinternational law do shape the foreign policies of states,
because the member parties to the alliances have to respond to the
requests and demands of their allies and refrain from formulating policies
or taking actions which are offensive to the alliance partners.
• Like many scholars , Dinesh asserted that,
• alliances serve as instruments of foreign policies.
• “Нe extensive and intensive system of alliances that emerged in the post-1945 period had a big
impact on the foreign policies of all the nations. During 1945-90, both the United States and
USSR, recognized and used alliances as the means for consolidating their respective positions.”
• Again, during the height of the Cold War, neither the members of the ‘Warsaw Pact’ nor those
of ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ (NATO) could pursue any independent foreign policy.
• Even now, with the demise of the Warsaw Pact, the US still continues to consider NATO as the
mainstay of its foreign policy in Europe.
19.
Military Strategy andArms Race
• Military strength can be consider as a part of hard power.
• To enhance the hard power, each country tried to make alliance and
along with it, an arms race also started.
• First Arms race started and observed during the late 19th
Century
When Russian and France challenge the naval superiority of Britain.
• Second wave of Arms race observed openly during the cold war
period between USSR and USA in the form of bi-polar politics where
Foreign Policy become the source through which alliances and
military strength have to increased by the third world and developing
countries.
20.
• Arm raceare a competitive defense spending and military capability
building between two states or bloc of states (like the cold war).
• Examples of such states locked in long-term rivalries with other states include
India-Pakistan,
• China-India,
• North-South Korea, and
• Turkey-Greece.
21.
• In thepursuit of foreign policy objectives, states adopt different strategies, and
military strategy is one of those.
• Scholars assert that one of the main prerequisite of a credible state actor is to
develop the military compatibilities and political will, to back its diplomacy by
force when necessary.
• As the famous saying,
• ‘when negotiations fail, confrontation is inevitable.’
• Thus, the use of military power is considered as the ultimate tool of international
relations following the conception of war as the continuation of politics by other
means. However, in either case whether used defensively or offensive military
power lends a measure of international freedom of action to the state involved.
22.
Domestic Determinants ofForeign Policy.
• Like the external determinant factors,
• scholars agree that the internal environment of state also influence the nature and
course of its foreign policy.
• Countries differ in size, socioeconomic development and political regime.
• in their political institutionalization and societal structures,
• military and economic capabilities,
• and strategic cultures.
• In the same vain, public opinion, national role conceptions, decision making rules and
personality traits of political leaders vary from one state to another.
23.
• According toTaner,
• “directly affect both foreign policy making process and foreign policy decisions.”
• By this, the “stuff of foreign policy derives from issues of domestic politics as well as
foreign relations.”
• According to Kissinger also,
• “…...the domestic structure is not irrelevant in any historical period. At a minimum, it
determines the amount of social effect which can be devoted to foreign policy.”
24.
• Among internaldeterminants following factors are prominent to
design the objectives of any country’s foreign Policy.
• Culture and History
• Geography, Size and Population
• Economic Development and Natural Resources
• Military Capabilities
• Political System
• Personality and Character of Leader
• Political Parties and Interest groups
• Press and Public Opinion
• Science and Technology
25.
Culture and History
•Culture provides people
• with ways of thinking,
• seeing and interpreting the things around them.
• It shapes our ideas and serves an instrument for us in analyzing everything happening around us.
• Everything from our racial features,
• to the food we eat,
• the way we dress,
• the language we speak,
• the music we listen to,
• and where we live,
• all form a part of culture.
• Vlahos argued that
• “pattern of thought and behavior are shaped by culture; they are not the product of mere nationalism.”
• Frode again asserted that cultural diplomacy has deep root and can easily be found in the archives of
foreign ministers.
• A nation inherits a style and culture which in turn influence and decide the course of actions, the nation
has to follow in relation to other sovereign states.
26.
• Countries withdivergent cultures and various historical experiences in its
different parts, find it difficult to formulate foreign policy in unison.
• The relationship between the Gambia and Senegal is a clear testimony of
this fact.
• These two countries virtually share same cultural ties with the exception
of official languages. Нe two sister countries have effective foreign policy
due to shared cultural values.
27.
• Colonization, isanother dimension of the historical experiences that
influence the foreign policy of states.
• The foreign policy of many Asian and African states is shaped by their
former colonial masters, notably Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal.
• This is more illustrated among French Speaking African countries,
such as Senegal, Mali, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast etc. France, obviously
becomes their best and strategic ally in world affairs.
• Same can be said about the former British colonies or members of
the British Commonwealth of Nations, like Gambia, Ghana,
Cameroon, Cyprus etc.
28.
Geography, Size andPopulation
• The size of a state’s territory, its geography and population greatly
influence its foreign policy implementation.
• It is generally believed that leaders and people of states with small
territory and population do not expect their country to carry out
heavy weight in international affairs. For example, Gambia, Benin,
Brunei, Kyrgyzstan etc.
• On the other hand, leaders of large countries are ready and willing to
assume special and larger responsibilities in global affairs. For
instance, United States, Russia and China, are active players in world
politics due to their gigantic size.
29.
• However, thatis not to say that, all small states do not take active roles in
international affairs. Some small states which have rich resources in terms
of economics and power, are very active and leave a deep impact on world
politics. For instance, Israel and North Korea are playing a very active role
in international politics. Same is true for that of the oil-rich countries of
the Middle East, though small in size are playing a significant role in
international politics, especially in international political economy.
• In the meantime, large countries like Canada, Australia and Brazil have not
been playing active and effective foreign policy. Нus, it can be argued that
size is not an absolute factor but with other factors just like resources.
30.
• In AmerRizwan’s dictum,
• “it matters where on the globe a country is located. It matters whether the country has natural
frontiers: that is whether it is protected by oceans, high mountains, or desserts. It matters who
one’s neighbors are and whether a given country is territorially large, populous, affluent and well-
governed.”
• The location of a state has a significant impact on its foreign policy. Example
of such states includes Turkey, Israel, The Gambia, and Libya.
• Turkey, with its location as a transit point between Europe and Asia,
undoubtedly has profound impact on her foreign policy implementation.
• Same is true for the Gambia, due to its geographical location on the Atlantic
Coastline. Moreover, in the 19th century, the United States has adopted
isolationist policy mainly on account of its geographical location.
31.
Economic Development andNatural
Resources
• The level of economic development of a country also influences the
foreign policy of that country.
• Many advance industrialist countries play dominant role in world
politics, and formulate their foreign policies to maintain such
superiority in the system.
• Such countries like United States, Russia, Germany and France have
large resources at their disposal to build military capabilities on one
hand, and disperse monetary benefits on other states in the form of
aids and loan, with the sole aim of ‘seeking allies’ with these states.
32.
• It isin line with this that, the US has been able to pursue vigorous
foreign policy and secure its national interest, which can be highly
related to its degree of economic and technological development.
• It has made liberal use of ‘foreign aid’ as an instrument for the
promotion of its foreign policy goals.
• A clear example of this can be seen in United Nation’s condemnation
of Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
• The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley said that
• “…. we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. … the US will be taking
names.”
33.
• In addition,the president of the United States, Donald Trump
threatened to cut of financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a
draft UN resolution to reject the US’s decision on Jerusalem as Israel’s
capital.
• In an interview, he said explicitly
• “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote
against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot.
We don’t care.”
34.
• On theother hand, small states like
• The Gambia,
• Nepal,
• Maldives,
• Bhutan and
• Sri-Lanka pursue a limited and calculated foreign policy due to their insufficient economic power.
• Therefore, it can be seen that developing and undeveloped countries remain
dependent on these advance industrialist countries to a larger extent to get
• development loans,
• import of technologies,
• provision of health care,
• access to higher education,
• and even food-grains to meet their needs.
• Thus, accordingly it has to adjust its foreign policy in these economic terms.
35.
• Moreover, inrecent years, Germany is playing leading role in Europe’s
politics despite not being permanent member of UNSC, and being a
non-nuclear state.
• It can rightly be argued that Germany’s increased leadership is
entirely attributed to its economic development. Also, the emergence
of China and India on world stage is based on their economic
resurgence in recent years.
• On the contrary, in post-cold war period, Russia’s influence decreased
to a considerable extent as its economic power has diminished after
the disintegration of USSR.
36.
• The availablenatural resources that a state has, influences the foreign
policy of those states.
• These resources include
• minerals,
• gas,
• petroleum or
• crude oil, and water resources,
• which are abundant in Africa and Middle East.
• It can be seen that such countries in these regions are considered
small; however with such abundant natural resources at their disposal,
despite their size they play a crucial role in international politics.
37.
• This, accordingto Rizwan has made Middle East to have leverage in
world politics due to oil diplomacy of the region.
• Due to their oil power, small states in the Middle East such as
• Qatar,
• Bahrain and
• Kuwait,
• pursue foreign policy more confidently and assertively.
38.
Military Capabilities
• Themilitary strength of a country, also determines the foreign policy
strategy of states.
• The capability of a state to defend its borders against armed
aggression plays a profound role in both internal and external policies
that states make.
• Militarily capable states exercise greater independence from external
forces in the formulation of their foreign policy.
• In the same vein, increase in the military capabilities of a state might
result in change in its foreign policy; from peaceful to an aggressive
foreign policy.
39.
• For instance,India has acquired new dimensions aіer ‘nuclearisation’, as it
attempts to get the status equivalent to the P-5 countries. The same can
be said about North Korea, with her possession of new weapons of mass
destruction, it is directing her foreign policy towards an aggressive one.
• This is to say that, states with high military capabilities such as US, China
and Russia, tend to be active and vigorous in pursuing their foreign policy
objectives in the international system.
• On the other hand, states with weak or low military capabilities tend to be
more salient in the pursue of their policy goals and most foreign depend
on ally seeking with greater powers and international organizations for
their protection.
40.
Political System
• Thepolitical organization and institutions in a country, also greatly
influences the foreign policy of that country.
• Generally, under authoritarian or totalitarian forms of government, easier
and faster foreign decisions are possible because the decision-making power
rests with an individual assisted by his clique.
• They are the sole decision makers and as their decisions are made without
any constraints or consultations, their foreign policy decisions can be
conflictual.
• It is also observed that decision making under such closed systems have
often, if not always, lead to a country’s isolation in international politics as
happened with the regimes in North Korea and Myanmar.
41.
• Different politicalsystems have different impacts in country’s foreign
policy such as
• Parliamentary system-Bicameral legislature
• Kingdom
• Authoritative and dictator form of political system
• Presidential form of Government.
• Bi-Party or Multi-party system.
• Uni-party system
42.
Personality and Characterof the Leadership
• Leadership in general, the personality of a leader in particular plays a
profound role in foreign policy formulation.
• The role of personality in foreign policy encompasses cognitive processes,
and assumes that decision making is the result of individual ‘human agency’;
that is, ultimately, it is ‘individuals’ who make decisions, not ‘states’.
• Thus, personality can be important in adding to our understanding of
foreign policy behavior.
• However, its relevance some scholars argue, is dependent upon the
constrains of the international system as well as domestic political structure.
43.
• Rosen ausaid,
• “A leader’s belief about the nature of international arena and the goals that ought to be
pursued therein, his or her peculiar intellectual strengths and weakness for analyzing
information and making decisions, his or her past background and the extent of its
relevance to the requirements of the role, his or her emotional needs and most of other
personality traits these are but a few of the idiosyncratic factors that can influence the
planning and execution of foreign policy.”
• Though, the government structure and societal realities are believed
to constrain the character of a leader, during crisis time the leader
shows the path to the government and society.
44.
• Leaders havebeen categorized into two:
• ‘hawks’—
• those who advocate an aggressive foreign policy based on strong military power, and
• ‘doves’—
• those who are termed as conciliatory and try to resolve international conflicts without the threat of
force.
• According to Hermann, an aggressive leader can be characterized by certain
attributes as
• tendency to manipulate others,
• high need for power,
• paranoia,
• high levels of nationalism,
• and a vigorous willingness to initiate on behalf of their state.
45.
• Whereas conciliatoryleaders on the other hand, are the opposite of the above. They possess
attributes such as
• a desire for affiliation and friendly relations with other,
• low level of nationalism, etc.
• From this, due to their aggressive foreign policy, leaders like
• Hitler,
• Mussolini,
• George W. Bush,
• Donald Trump, and
• King Jong-Un of North Korea,
• can be categorized as ‘hawks’,
• while leaders such as
• Abraham Lincoln,
• Barack Obama,
• Emmanuel Macron of France,
• can be classified as ‘doves’.
46.
Political Parties andInterest Groups
• Political parties are vital to modern political settings.
• They play an important role in shaping representative democracy in a country.
• They have a greater say in the foreign policies of their countries and usually
voice their interest directly or through interest groups.
• Under multiparty system and coalition governments, political parties (i.e., the
opposition party) always have conflicting views and interests, which may alter
the formulation of foreign policy.
• Scholars from the neoliberal approach to international politics (e.g. Keohane),
accentuate the decisive influence of organized interest groups on foreign
policy.
47.
• In thisview, leaders or government officials with foreign policy authority bargain with
• domestic interest groups that use their member’s votes,
• campaign contributions,
• labor strikes or other tools to affectt the electoral benefits and
• costs to elected officials of choosing alternative policies.
• For example, Keohane and Milner, traced targeted government subsidies and trade
protections to the influence of well-organized and financed groups; while Snyder
attributes defense policy to logrolling coalitions.
• Organized labor and business corporations possess critical resources for pressuring
policy makers.
• Galenson asserts that, with mission as protecting the jobs and benefits of their
members,
• “Labor leaders have spoken out often on foreign affairs.”
48.
• In RobertH. Thriceͤ’s insight,
• “Interest groups can be viewed as auxiliary actors that stand between the government and the
mass public, tied to the governments decision-making system by channels of communication.”
• These interest groups have mobilized a diverse area ranging from
• business,
• labor,
• ethnic,
• health,
• environmental,
• human rights, etc.
• Thus, it becomes impossible for governments to turn a blind eye on their
existence.
49.
Press and PublicOpinion
• According to Thriceͤs , “the domestic sources of foreign policy are widely recognized and
include interest groups, mass public opinion, and the printed and electronic media.”
• The media is agreed by many scholars to play a significant role in influencing the policies
and decisions leaders make. Нere exists a phenomenon called the “CNN effect”, which
Joseph Nye explains as:
• In Neack’s insight, those who believe in the reality of the CNN effect, propose that it
makes use of public opinion.
• As the media broadcast images of
• mass starvation,
• ethnic conflict,
• violent human right abuses,
• and other sort of mass suffering;
• the images arouse strong emotions in the public
50.
Science and Technology
•Just as media, technology has brought a tremendous amount of change in the areas of
foreign policy and diplomacy.
• Hillary Clinton in her tenure as secretary of state, once said
• “Just as the internet has changed virtually every aspect of how people worldwide live, learn, consume and
communicate, connection technologies are changing the strategic context for diplomacy in the 21st century.”
• Science and technology considerations are often central to the interaction of states with
other governments.
• It plays a large role in discussions of such critical topics as
• nuclear non-proliferation,
• use of outer space,
• population growth,
• adequate and safe food supply,
• climate change,
• energy resources,
• and competitiveness of industrial technologies.
51.
• Transfer oftechnology and interdependency of third world and
developing countries over developed countries.
• Rosenau rightly said,
• “technological changes can alter military and economic capabilities of a society and thus
its status and role in the international system.”
• Today, it can rightly be argued that U.S.A, Germany, China and Japan
are in a position to play crucial roles in international politics due to
their technological excellence.
52.
Conclusion
• Foreign policydecision-making entails series of processes and involves
different actors.
• It plays an enormous role in the international affairs of a state.
• Without a properly formulated foreign policy, a state is tended to lose
its position and prestige in world affairs and will eventually lead to a
decline in achieving its national interest, whereas the opposite is true
of countries with well formulated foreign policies.
• Thus, fully understanding the meaning and concept of the term
foreign policy, is quite important for both policy makers, students and
researchers.
53.
• Since foreignpolicy in general is about the
• interaction of a state with another,
• this interaction only takes place at the ‘international’ level and
• as such, cannot be ignored in analyzing the foreign policy of any state.
• Hence,
• the international system or power structure,
• international law,
• international organizations,
• alliances, and military strength or arm race,
• all influence foreign policy implementation.
54.
• Нe internalenvironment of a state also influences the nature and course
of its foreign policy.
• Countries differ
• in size,
• socioeconomic development and political regime.
• They also differ in their political institutionalization and
• societal structures,
• military and economic capabilities,
• and strategic cultures.
• public opinion,
• national role conceptions,
• decision making rules and personality traits of political leaders vary from one state to another.