Some conceptual models of foreign policy decision-making based on historical examples

Abstract

The article analyses four conceptual models of assessing foreign policy decision-making with relevant examples of application from the history of international relations. The study, in particular, examines the behaviorist model, which links changes in the actions of a specific country in the global arena with the peculiarities of the psychological profi le of a single high-ranking representative of state power. The article also addresses the cognitivist model of bounded rationality, which assumes that the decision-maker at the political level is limited in his or her thinking functions, may lack some necessary information, and almost always feels pressure from the external social environment. The study also explains how the incrementalist model works. Its proponents are convinced that a country's development, including its geopolitical position, is primarily infl uenced by confl ict between diff erent authorities who bargain with each other but eventually come to a mutually acceptable agreement. Finally, the article provides information on the model of comprehensive rationality, in which players with individual interests are guided by the desire to maximise benefits and minimise risks when making decisions, including in the field of foreign policy.