LECTURE 19 –FOREIGN POLICY

• FOREIGN POLICY• A.   Introduction• B.   Definition:• 1.    The foreign policy of any state

reflects the way in which its government defines its own mission and the extent to which that mission is shared by the population as a whole

LECTURE 19.1

• 1.    George Modelski- the process whereby a state adjust its actions to those of other states so as to minimize adverse actions and minimize adverse actions and maximize the favorable actions of foreign states

• 2.    Policy is seen not as actions based on some grand design but as a continual process of pragmatic adjustment to the actions of others in the external environment.

LECTURE 19.2

• 1.    Foreign policy is a combination of aims and interests pursued and defended by the given state and its ruling class in relation with other states and the methods and means used by it for the achievement and defense of purposes and interests

• A.   The objectives and interests that state seeks to promote or safeguard as it interacts with other states must be viewed against the background of its internal social structure and the configuration of political power within it.

LECTURE 19.3

• A.   The classes that controls and wields power necessarily shapes foreign policy and in accordance with its own interest and at most these are rationalized ideologically as the interest of the entire nation.

• B.   Hence there are no interests that can be shared by members of the nation state in common.

LECTURE 19.4

• A.   BUT SOME DO:• 1.    Defense of state sovereignty, • 2.    Defense of national independence• 3.    Defense of territorial integrity of a

country.• In most cases foreign policy decisions

are not concerned with matters related to such common interest or values

LECTURE 19.5

• A.   Foreign policy tends to center on so called middle range objectives such as interstate economic, commercial, and political relations including attempts to influence the behavior of other states in desired directions.

• Hence one can evaluate that it is over routine matters that class interest tend to have decisive influence on policy making

LECTURE 19.6

• A.   Foreign policy mirrors/is an extension or complement of domestic policy.

• B.   The distinction between the two is thus not a matter of substance. Rather it derives from the fact that a state’s foreign policy takes account of the relevant attitudes, actions, reactions of other actors whereas its domestic policy is not in general burden with such considerations

LECTURE 19.7

• A.   Silva Brucan 1978: foreign policy formulation derives from five factors;

• 1.    Natural –material basics- including size of territory, population, geographic location, resources and the state and level of eco-technological development.

• 2.    Societal structure and forces including social classes, ethnic composition, cultural and psychological factors at work in society.

LECTURE 415

• 1.    Contingency and situational factors including political, economic crisis, coup d’etat, elections, massive strikes, large-scale violence, military actions and war. These influence the intensity of social and national drives and reactions.

• 2.    The state system, including governmental machinery of decision making

LECTURE 19.9

• 1.    Leadership, which refer to the way in which state power is used by current office holders

• A.   These can be categorized into 3:• 1.    Those that are in the nature of permanent and

immutable physical realities, which the policy maker cannot alter at all or can, alter at great cost in terms of resources.

• 2.    Those variables those are entirely amenable to manipulation by decision makers.

LECTURE 19.10

• 1.    There are those which occur randomly and yet are capable of exerting decisive impacts on the course of events

• A.   on the other hand, the question has also been approached from the point of view of the impact of capability deficiencies on the developing countries.

LECTURE 19.11

• A.   Enough evidence exists in the history of post war international relations to show that small developing countries can infact exert significant influence on the movement of world politics and thereby achieve their policy objectives E.G Egypt 1956 Abdel Nasser non control of the Suez canal against the claims of Britain and France who had seemingly overwhelming military force at their disposal since its formation. Tanzania under Nyerere earned a reputation among third world for its steadfast adherence to the principles of anti-colonialism and non-alignment.

LECTURE 19.12

• A.   Third world foreign policy objectives• 1.    Gain respect on the world state and

for its states to be treated as equals after centuries of inferiority witnessed in slavery and colonialism

• 2.    Legacy of colonialism• 3.    Dominant cold war

tensions/globalism

LECTURE 19.13

• 1.    Opposition to racism• 2.    Occasional presence of foreign troops• 3.    The final policy objectives- economic

modernization and development• In 1965 UK withdrew its aid after Tanzania

broke off diplomatic relations in protest against Rhodesia UDI.

LECTURE 19.14

• A.   Recently Zimbabwe ‘s stance on land issue and upholding of the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. But smart sanctions, USA bill.

• B.   The ability of a developing state to achieve its policy objectives vary in accordance with the given issue or issue area. It is possible to identify 4 such issue areas

LECTURE 19.15

• 1.    High priority issue or core values

• 2.    Regional issues

• 3.    Continental issues

• 4.    Global issues

LECTURE 19.16

• A.   Core values are of such intrinsic value that states invest vast amounts of resources in order to safeguard them e.g. a country’s territorial integrity.

• B.   Developing countries have a significant ability when dealing with issues that are purely regional or local in character e.g SADC, ECOWAS, OAU….

LECTURE 19.17

• A.   However it should be noted that in the contemporary era of globalization even so called local or regional; issues can and often do, assume a global character as a result of super power intervention.

• Jansen 1982. Why do states behave the way they do?

LECTURE 19.18

• 1.    Role of idiosyncratic variable such as psychological dispositions and individual belief systems

• 2.    Societal determinants- individual decision makers are often products of societies in which they live. They tend to share values and goals prevailing in broader sense.

LECTURE 19.19

• 1.    Ideology and historical tradition- foreign policy is a product of past experiences of a nation and the specific political beliefs of ideologies that have become accepted over years. Every society is held together by a myth-system a dominant thought-forms that determines and sustains all its activities

• 2.    Economic determinants- most international conflicts are linked to economic factors

LECTURE 19.20

• 1.    External and systematic determinants- characteristics of the international system appear to shape foreign policy behavior

• B.   decision making process- the way decisions are made and actors that participate in making those decisions have an impact on the content of choices made.

LECTURE 19.21

• 1.    Tocqueville- argued that management of foreign affairs requires knowledge, secrecy, judgment, planning and perseverance qualities in which autocratic systems are superior to democratic ones

• 2.    Lippman- criticized democratic foreign policy making on the ground that the mass public is generally. Uniformed about foreign policy and will always opt for taking the easy way out of situations that demand more assertive action.

LECTURE 19.22

• 1.    Aron- democratic decision making has a danger of “ conservative paralysis” and a corresponding in ability to deal with pressing problems

• B.   Advantages of authoritarian/ strong state:

LECTURE 19.23

• 1.    Makes decisions more rapid since it is not responsive to a mass public and involves smaller number of elites

• 2.    Better methods to achieve to ensure compliance

• 3.    centralization enables the development of a united front. Democracies speak with several voices hence lack unity- due to information linkages.

LECTURE 19.24

• 1.    Guarantees more consistent and external presentation of its foreign policy views

• 2.    Ability to pursue contradictory policies at the same time.

• Disadvantages- deficiency of innovation and not immune from politics of interest group.

LECTURE 19.25

• A.   Models of foreign policy making

• 1.    The strategic rational model- state actors viewed as rational actors searching to maximize their goals in global politics

LECTURE 19.26

• 1.    Decision making approach- postulate numerous internal and external factors that that impinge on foreign policy choices

• 2.Bureaucratic politics model- role played by the many bureaucrats involved in the foreign policy process. Since politicians often lack foreign policy expertise they must rely on bureaucrats/ permanent civil servants for more information and advice.

LECTURE 19.27

• 1.    Adaptive model- focus on how states respond to the constraints and opportunities and constraints provided by their respective international environments. The adaptive capabilities of states differ depending not only on their capabilities but also their will.

LECTURE 19.28

• 1.    Incremental Decision Making- Because of great uncertainty and lack of complete information concerned with foreign policy issues, decisions cannot be made in terms of comprehensive rational calculation- instead they are product they are a product of considerable, maneuverings and many false stats over long period.