Модель анализа идеологии во внешней политике

Abstract

The article presents a theoretical model of how ideological concepts may impact the foreign political strategies of states. The author thinks that the necessity to build a more concrete understanding of the strategic goal setting process is more relevant these days due to the increasing ochlocratic influence on the governmental behavior in the international arena. The model is based on three logically intertwined pillars. The first of them analyzes the socio-psychological mechanism of the transformation of ideas into specific actions on the part of an individual or a collective body. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of ideologemes as compact expressions of normative attitude towards the surrounding events. The article also takes into consideration psychological predispositions that made the conversion of some ideas into actions more probable. The second pillar accounts for the decision-making process. It analyses the most significant elements of the mechanism, that determine how long-term national interests and specific goals are formulated within the political establishment, the expert and governmental officials’ community. The author also presents a vision in which an overall national might, presence or absence of political will define the spectrum of potentially made decisions. This approach can give a more detailed and concrete understanding of the nature of subjectivity in world affairs. The third pillar is based on the analysis of how a governmental actor perceives through its ideological lens its own interaction with the surrounding international environment. This pillar considers the actors’ self-positioning in the world, the foreign policy instruments this actor uses to affect external objects in order to fortify its place on the global stage. The model may be useful for research of the long-term foreign policy strategic planning, establishing specific criteria of effectiveness of its implementation, and forecasting the decision-making process.