POL208Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Foreign Policy Analysis, World Trade Organization, Nationstates
Chapter 10: Foreign Policy
● The Concept of Foreign Policy
○ Foreign policy analysis is a study of the management of external relations and
activities of nation-states, as distinguished from their domestic policies
○ Involves goals, strategies, measures, methods, guidelines, directives,
understandings, agreements, etc. by which national governments conduct
international relations with each other and with international organizations and
non-governmental actors
● Foreign Policy Analysis
○ Foreign policy analysis involves scrutinizing the external policies of states and
placing them in a broader context of academic knowledge
○ Foreign policy theorists who are concerned with defence or security issues are
likely to take a realist approach, emphasizing the inevitable clash of interests
between state actors, the outcomes of which are seen to be determined by
relative state power
○ Those concerned with multilateral questions are likely to take a liberal approach,
emphasizing international institutions - such as the UN or the WTO - as means of
reducing international conflict and promoting mutual understanding and common
interests
○ Approaches to foreign policy analysis
■ Traditional approach: focus on the decision maker
● Involves being informed about a government’s external policies
● Involves the exercise of judgement and common sense in
assessing the best practical means and courses of action
available for carrying out foreign policies
■ Comparative foreign policy: behavioralism and ‘pre-theory’
● Ambition was to build systematic theories and explanations of the
foreign policy process in general
■ Bureaucratic structures and processes; decision making during crisis
● Focuses on the organizational context of decision making, which
is seen to be conditioned by the dictates and demands of the
bureaucratic setting in which decisions are made
■ Cognitive processes and psychology
● Focused on the individual decision maker, this time with particular
attention to the psychological aspects of decision making, such as
perceptions of actors
■ ‘Multilevel, multidimensional’: the general theories
■ The constructivist turn: identities before interests
● Focus on the role of ideas, discourse, and identity
● How to Study Foreign Policy: A Level-of-Analysis Approach
○ The systematic level
■ E.g., the distribution of power among states; their political and economic
interdependence
Document Summary
Foreign policy analysis is a study of the management of external relations and. Chapter 10: foreign policy activities of nation-states, as distinguished from their domestic policies. Involves goals, strategies, measures, methods, guidelines, directives, understandings, agreements, etc. by which national governments conduct international relations with each other and with international organizations and non-governmental actors. Foreign policy analysis involves scrutinizing the external policies of states and placing them in a broader context of academic knowledge. Those concerned with multilateral questions are likely to take a liberal approach, emphasizing international institutions - such as the un or the wto - as means of reducing international conflict and promoting mutual understanding and common interests. Traditional approach: focus on the decision maker. Involves being informed about a government"s external policies. Involves the exercise of judgement and common sense in assessing the best practical means and courses of action available for carrying out foreign policies.
