Foreign Policy Formulation Research Articles

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES: THE RESULTS OF 30 YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT

After gaining independence in 1991, the Central Asian states, which had no experience in conducting independent foreign policy activities, began to build their own foreign policy coordinate system and develop its conceptual framework. Given their unique geopolitical position and diverse resource potential, the regional states preferred to pursue an open and multi-vector foreign policy, which allowed them to realize their national interests. With regard to the transformational processes in global politics and economy, as well as the geopolitical characteristics of their states, the political elites of the regional states have developed their own approaches to foreign policy. The article analyzes the doctrinal foundations of the Central Asian countries’ foreign policy, and the influence of global factors on the foreign policy formation of the regional states and intraregional cooperation.

Concepts of Poland’s Foreign Policy Towards Ukraine in the Columns of the Parisian “Culture”

The presented articles analyze the foreign policy concepts of Polish political emigration after the Second World War, which were published and discussed in the columns of the literary and political magazine “Culture”. The founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine was a Polish emigrant figure: journalist and publicist, public intellectual Jerzy Giedroyc, and the literary and political magazine “Culture” was published in Paris between 1947 and 2000. Playing an important role in Polish literary life, the magazine also became a lively discussion platform on the future of Europe, in particular, the future of Polish-Ukrainian interstate and interethnic relations. In fact, J. Giedroyc, together with his friend and colleague J. Myroszewski, created, substantiated and developed the idea of recognizing Poland’s post-war eastern borders and reconciling Poles with Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians. Another important component of the Polish foreign policy concept was the thesis that a free Poland could not exist without a free Ukraine. This concept of Poland’s foreign policy was not perceived in the 50s and 70s of the twentieth century by either Polish political emigrants or the politicians of the Polish People's Republic. However, after the victory of Solidarity in the 1989 Polish elections and the formation of a new post-communist government, the independent Republic of Poland took the ideas of J. Giedroyc and J. Myroszewski as the basis of its foreign policy towards Ukraine. The process of shaping Polish foreign policy since 1989 has been quite complex and controversial, as from the very beginning it was necessary to develop a clear position on the changes taking place in the West and, more importantly, in the East. The crisis, and later the collapse of the USSR, put on the agenda of the Polish political elite the need to approach the formation of a new foreign policy of the Third Commonwealth with special attention. Therefore, the main goal of the new Eastern policy was to respond to the changes taking place abroad.

The Dynamics of Nigeria’s Policy for Africa in the Post-Colonial Period

All heads of state of independent Nigeria have left their mark on the formation of national foreign policy, including the policy for Africa, and brought their vision to the development of this sphere, although the greatest contribution to the formation of relations of the Giant of Africa with other states of the continent was made during the years of the Fourth Republic (1999 – present), when, after a long period of military rule, civilian politicians came to power in the country. Throughout the entire period of independent development, the main principles of Nigeria’s formation of contacts with other countries were respect for equality and territorial integrity of sovereign states; non-interference in their internal affairs; active membership in international organizations; non-alignment with military-political blocs, etc. However, the main priority of Nigeria’s foreign policy in the post-colonial period was the development of relations with African countries – a phenomenon that has come to be known as Afrocentrism. In accordance with the principles declared in all Constitutions of the country (1960, 1979, 1993, and 1999), Nigeria made a great contribution to the struggle for the true political and economic independence of African countries, for the liberation of the continent from the remnants of colonialism and apartheid. Since the 1970s, when the country became one of the world’s largest oil producers and exporters and began to provide financial and logistical assistance to African countries in need, a new objective has appeared in its foreign policy – gaining the status of “the leader of the continent”. This desire has been fueled by the fact that Nigeria is the most populous state on the continent and has one of the largest and fastest growing economies in Africa. Not all Nigerian leaders were able to correctly identify political priorities and to a certain extent demonstrated naiveté, limiting their foreign policy primarily to the African direction. While in the first years of independence this was legitimate and justified, with the advent of globalization, the development of a multipolar world, and the transformation of the world political and economic order, it became necessary to ensure that Nigeria’s foreign policy was adapted to modern realities. Meanwhile, thanks to its economic potential, huge reserves of hydrocarbons, which all countries in the region need, and military-political power, Nigeria quite rightly claims a central role in coordinating joint efforts to achieve true economic and political independence by West African states, although one of the obstacles to the transformation Nigeria into a real “hegemon” both in West Africa and throughout the continent remains political instability in the country.

القوة الناعمة وكأس العالم 2022 في قطر

A growing body of literature recognizes the significance of soft power in Qatar's foreign policy. There is, however, limited research on the long-term impact that occurs from the over-dependency on the soft power. The popular rhetoric in most literature expresses that Qatar uses its soft power, often in the form of sports diplomacy, to meet its foreign policy objectives. The review paper attempts to identify to what extent the 2022 World Cup can be understood from the soft power perspective, and the role it plays in Qatar's foreign policy formulation and implementation, as well as the significance of soft power in comprehending Qatar's mega investments in the sporting sector. The first section elaborates into sport diplomacy functions and its origins. The second section elaborates on Qatar's involvement with International Sports. The third and arguably the most important section deals with soft power and sports diplomacy. The paper offers an up-to-date review of current studies about Qatar's international strategy for sport, whether for investment and diversification of state revenues or political and policy diplomacy motifs.

Indonesia's Foreign Policy in Digital Era : Poliheuristic Theory

This paper discusses the consideration of the formulation of Indonesia's foreign policy and diplomacy in the digital era in the economic and social fields. This study uses a qualitative paradigm with a descriptive analysis type. This research uses a case study method with secondary data collection techniques taken from various relevant references such as books, journals and reports and others. So this research uses a research library. The author uses poly-acoustic theory and foreign policy formulations in the digital era. Hasilyang found that the formulation of foreign policy in the digital era contains the question of why it is oriented towards promoting foreign policy, What, is oriented towards policy support in the digital era, who, namely the government, companies and society. Then the question where, in the country and region. And how about through politheuistic. The analysis found that the formulation of Indonesia's foreign policy and diplomacy has two considerations, namely cognitive cognition and rational calculation. Thus, it is concluded that Indonesia's interests in the economic and social fields have a great opportunity to make Indonesia a transforming country in the digital era.

Belarus’s oscillating foreign policy toward the EU: from engagement to retrenchment (1994–2021)

ABSTRACT Belarusian foreign policy toward the EU has been variable under President Aliaksandr Lukashenka. It has oscillated between periods of engagement, aimed at improving/deepening relations with the bloc, and periods of retrenchment in response to EU sanctions for violations of human rights. In this article the author applies Elena Gnedina’s concept of “multi-vector” foreign policy to explain attempts to improve relations with the EU from 2007 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2020. The author analyzes these attempts by focusing on actors, objectives, and instruments. Changes in these variables help us periodize Belarusian “multi-vector” foreign policy and discern its implicit meanings, with the ultimate goals of (1) understanding what motivated Belarusian political elites to change their foreign policy toward the EU, and (2) building an analytical framework that weighs different institutional constraints on the formulation of foreign policy toward the EU.

The Pragmatism of US Foreign Policy in the Obama and Trump Administrations.

This researched has tried to analyze the philosophy of pragmatics and its development as well as applying it on the level of America’s foreign policy in the cabinet of both American Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump in a comparative way to analyze and investigate it. The philosophy of Pragmatics in the center of American policy had an important position in the formulation of foreign policies and decisions and its application between Barack Obama and Donald Trump’s administration, was embodied in different forms and mechanisms which understanding this political perspective and direction is helpful to increase an understanding about formulation and application of American foreign policy. It has been tried to answer the main question of the research within the context of this research, which is how did the main and clear difference of getting benefit from pragmatism between both Obama and Trump’s administration has reflected in the American foreign policy? In the research, it was hypothesized that pragmatism was generally used in American foreign policy to protect America’s living interests and applying pragmatism between each Obama and Trump’s administration and how it is reflected in American foreign policy. This research has reached the conclusion that pragmatism in the era of Barak Obama’s administration has embodied itself in the form of a clever and hidden soft Power that has not ignored actors and other parties in the international arena despite the desire to protect American interests. But in Donald Trump’s era, pragmatism has applied itself in the form of hard, obvious pragmatism, economic, and political interests of America, which was the main desire to protect America’s interests.

The Middle East in Canadian foreign policy and national identity formation

While often overlooked, the Middle East has been a pivotal geographical and discursive space in Canadian foreign policy and national identity formation. The region was the birthplace of Canada’s liberal internationalist foreign policy identity, Pearsonianism, and the national myths associated with it. The Middle East also appears to be where Pearsonianism was later superseded by a more realist foreign policy approach, centred on key bilateral relationships with Western countries and a shared sense of Western civilisation. For reasons tied to identity formation and how Canadians perceive their place in the world, the Middle East is therefore a deeply contested space in the domestic arena and a site of deep divisions today. With the support of three contemporary case studies—Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Iran—this paper explores how Canada’s ties to the Middle East have shaped and continue to shape Canada’s foreign policy, national identity, and place in the world.

Urban Diplomacy

Abstract By examining the great economic and political transformations of our time, it is revealed how cities and their hinterlands have become part of globalisation. The global city has joined the group of actors who develop diplomatic, political and communicative action in a manner that is de facto and lawful. Thus, the city is involved in the formulation of foreign policy at the same time that it proposes its own political agenda, which may or may not be aligned with its own country. The city thereby becomes a source of innovation in the field of diplomacy. The Covid-19 pandemic is accelerating the political and diplomatic role of cities, which have become epicentres of prevention and response in the face of this public health crisis.

Особенности внешнеполитического механизма Российской Федерации

The article considers the problem of the stages of evolution and the main trends in the functioning of the foreign policy mechanism of the Russian Federation. The degree of influence of specific elements of the mechanism of formation and implementation of Russian foreign policy from 1991 up to the present has been characterized. It was shown that in 2000-2008 certain changes took place in the system of the state foreign policy mechanism, which were due to the specifics of the leadership style of the incumbent President and his team. By 2012, the system evolves and acquires modern features.

Belt and Road Initiative alias Chinese Dream: How Are the Cards Dealt for This Game?

An old Chinese proverb says, “if you want to be rich, build a path”. The People’s Republic of China (from now on, China) has already verified this proverb’s validity in the old Silk Road. The oldest and most famous trade route in history has managed to help China and the surrounding region reach an imaginary peak in its time. Today, after centuries of unrest, wars, economic decline, and international isolation, China is once again building a path to help it return to the world’s most developed nations, the New Silk Road, respectively the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI has been defined as “the most eye-catching and possibly the one with the longest-term significance” (Ferdinand, 2017) [“Westward Ho — The China Dream and ‘One Belt, One Road’: Chinese Foreign Policy under Xi Jinping,” in Weiqing Song, ed., China’s Relations with Central and Eastern Europe: From “Old Comrades” to New Partners (London: Routledge, 2017), pp. 1–18]. The Silk Road project was introduced in 2013 by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in response to the economic crisis and the subsequent effort to find new markets and trading partners. The BRI restores the idea of the ancient Silk Road. The BRI is thus the result of a changed approach to foreign policy and the idea of opening up China. However, this policy cannot be perceived only as economic cooperation, but a well-thought-out Chinese foreign policy to expand its influence not only in Asia. The Sinocentric view of the world is thus one of the fundamental aspects of Chinese foreign policy formation. What will the country have to deal with in the future and, above all, what can we expect from China? This paper aims to provide insights into the visions proposed by the BRI, i.e. to capture the main milestones in the current development of the BRI, detailed analysis of its nature, and its current situation and implementation.

Constructing National Values: The Nationally Distinctive Turn in Russian IR Theory and Foreign Policy

AbstractAs the world moves away from the West-centered international system, IR scholars are increasingly turning their attention to substance and formation of national values. Using the case of Russia, we show how distinct schools of IR theory and foreign policy dominant in the country have come to recognize the importance of national values as a lens through which to assess the country's means and goals of development. Each in its way, these schools—Civilizationists, Statists, and Westernizers—have prioritized “the national” in the country's future. We explain Russia's turn to the national by stressing the country's ontological insecurity, the role of the Russian state, and Western actions that contribute to creating and exacerbating the conditions of ontological insecurity. The case of Russia has important implications for understanding the role of national values in the formation of foreign policy and IR theory.

FOREIGN POLICY IN HYBRID WARFARE ENVIRONMENT – WAY FORWARD FOR PAKISTAN

Hybrid warfare is neither a novel idea nor a new phenomenon. It has been evolving for ages, yet its manifestation in the contemporary era has intensified. Taking advantage of politico-ethnic fault lines, socio-religious vulnerabilities, and identity conflicts, hybrid warfare advocates using all means available including regular or irregular and conventional or unconventional ways of warfare to subdue the will of an adversary. An externally motivated and supported threat requires essential measures in the foreign policy domain to thwart and foil it outside the borders. Therefore, this paper deals with the conceptual aspects of hybrid warfare and highlights the contours of the hybrid threat currently confronting Pakistan. It navigates through the challenges for foreign policy formulation and implementation in a hybrid warfare environment and identifies loopholes and grey areas while recommending tangible measures. 
 
 Bibliography Entry
 Naz, Imtiaz Hussain. 2021. "Foreign Policy in Hybrid Warfare Environment – Way Forward for Pakistan." Margalla Papers 25 (1): 1-11.

A cross-country comparison of malaria policy as a premise for contextualized appropriation of foreign aid in global health

BackgroundForeign aid continues to play an essential role in health sector development in low-resource countries, particularly in terms of providing a vital portion of their health expenditures. However, the relationship between foreign aid allocation and malaria policy formulation and/or implementation among state aid recipients remains unknown.MethodsPublicly available data were collected with the country as observational unit to set up the conceptual framework. The quality and strength of relationships between socioeconomic, environmental and institutional parameters were estimated by Pearson and polychoric correlations. A correlation matrix was explored by factor analysis.ResultsThe first policy index captured policy variation related to malaria burden and development assistance. Funding per capita from all international agencies was correlated with malaria burden, whereas governmental funding for national malaria programmes per capita was not. The second policy index captured variation beyond malaria endemicity and country size. Variation was found to be related to international country risk instruments and funding from the United States Agency for International Development President’s Malaria Initiative.ConclusionsNot all agencies involved in malaria policy allocate assistance in alignment with the gross domestic product and malaria burden. While the country size does not negatively impact malaria burden, it does account for greater development assistance per capita from selected international agencies. Novel policy indexes describe complex relationships between malaria policy, international foreign aid and socioeconomic parameters. Small countries have distinct environmental and sociopolitical properties.

The Quest for Soviet Legacy in Russian Foreign Policy

Russian foreign policy is a popular subject on which scholars have lately conducted much research. The current stage of these studies is competent in explaining various aspects of Russian foreign policy. Yet, considering both earlier and more recent works, there seems to be a trend of focusing solely on the post-Soviet era. Relatedly, the majority of the current literature adopts perspectives that analyze the period after Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. Moreover, almost all of the prominent and relatively less-cited research takes a leader-oriented approach. Hence, despite the satisfying heft of the current literature, there still is a gap regarding the Soviet legacy behind Russia’s foreign policy orientations. In other words, although most of the components and goals of Moscow’s foreign policy have been previously covered, the role of Soviet history/the Soviet mindset remains vague. To this end, this review article thoroughly analyzes the four selected books and engages with their contributions in terms of defining the role of the Soviet legacy in Russian foreign policy formulations.

Conditions influencing the change of defense budgets - the case of Lithuania

During the so-called Cold War the financing of the defense budget was widely discussed. The issue of financing the defense budget was widely discussed during the arms race. Since the end of the Cold War, armed conflicts have become more complex, and their causes are even more diverse than during the Cold War. They were caused by the deterioration of inter-ethnic divisions, hybrid and cyber wars over energy resources and the activities of terrorist groups. Due to the changing security dimension, a new study was conducted examining the determinants of defense spending in a changing security environment: the creation of new islands in the South China Sea to expand China’s military-political power in the region; the possibility of using North Korea's nuclear energy. weapons, Russia’s military maneuver in the conflict in Ukraine, its naval operation in the Black Sea, the occupation of Crimea, military operations in Syria, a change in U.S. military doctrine. The state that has spent the most military spending is returning to the creation of large military units, and to do so, the country needs to increase defense spending. Looking at how these world events work, we see one component that connects them. Strong force, expressed in military action, is used to achieve their political goals. Military power is gaining more and more influence in the formation of foreign policy, therefore the defense budget, as an instrument of foreign policy expressed in military power, is becoming an increasingly relevant object of research. Lithuania's defense budget is not as important to world politics as the United States, China or other major countries in the world, but it is relevant and significant in its region. Expenditures on the Lithuanian military budget began to increase significantly by two thousand and fourteen. It can be argued that the factor that has now influenced cost growth is Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. Nevertheless, in 2008 Russia's aggression in Georgia did not affect the growth of Lithuania's defense budget. 2008 The economic crisis may have influenced Lithuania's decision not to increase military spending. Some pressure on the country's defense budget is also related to the 2020 Pandemic crisis. The question arises as to why seemingly similar conflicts affect Lithuanian political decisions differently.

‘Royal diplomacy: British preparations for the State Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the United States, June 1939.’

ABSTRACT This article explores the preparation made by the British government, primarily the Foreign Office, for the state visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the United States three months before the outbreak of the Second World War. It considers the dynamics of the relationship between the officials in Whitehall, the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Ronald Lindsay, the agenda of the Roosevelt administration and the role of the British royal family as ambassadors in their own right. Lindsay’s role was also pivotal because he was a personal friend of the King and was also on much respected and influential figure in Washington. The article does not discuss the course of the state visit, although there is discussion of the literature that relates to it. However, it does reveal that securing a concrete alliance with the United States was not the priority of the British government in the summer of 1939; that the focus of the Foreign Office, in particular, was on the growing diplomatic crisis in Europe. Lastly, the article argues that in the months leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Foreign Office was confident in its own ability to lead the formulation of British foreign policy; that it was not eclipsed by Neville Chamberlain’s very personal involvement in appeasing the fascist dictators.

SIGNIFIKANSI KEBIJAKAN “Open-Door Policy” TURKI DI BAWAH PRESIDEN TAYYIP ERDOGAN

The civil war that occurred in Syria has since made many Syrians flee to various countries and one of them is Turkey. Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria, Turkey has implemented an open policy for Syrians. In the formulation of foreign policy, there are many variables that need to be considered, namely the environment and international situation and the personality of the leader. Given the strong leadership influence in Turkey's political life, such an approach promises many variations in the foreign policy outcome. The research method used was James Rosenau's adaptive model by looking at external and internal situations as research variables. Apart from that, the individual factor, namely President Tayyip Erdoğan's personality as a decision-maker is considered. The analysis technique used is literature and literature study with qualitative analysis. The writing of this scientific paper is aimed at answering what factors influenced the Turkish Government regarding its Open Door policy in the era of President Erdoğan.

Brand in the system of world economic geopolitics

The place of brand in the system of world economic geopolitics is determined. The causal chain of influence of branding on the formation of the world geoeconomy is traced. The brand is defined as a factor in shaping the system of world economic geopolitics. The scheme of connections between the elements of the system of world economic geopolitics is offered. The time coordinates of the brand functioning in the context of the evolution of the «world order» are determined. The objective strengthening of the influence of branding in the conditions of geophilosophy is substantiated. It is established that the brand provides effective promotion of countries in the world geospace and determines their role in the implementation of world geopolitics and «world order». The object of research is the branding as a factor in shaping the system of world economic geopolitics. The subject of the study is the brand as a tool for managing the economic development of the country. The purpose of this work is to substantiate the place of the brand as a tool for managing the economic development of the country in the system of world economic geopolitics. To achieve this goal were used: system-parametric approach – to the scientific knowledge of brand and geopolitics, which allowed to reveal certain links between these concepts; systematic analysis of the evolution of the «world order», the system of economic geopolitics and branding, which contributed to the definition of the brand as a factor in the formation of the system of economic geopolitics; managerial approach – to the process of brand management, the formation of a «world order», controlling the fair process of distribution of the country's wealth among different segments of the population. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the possibility of their use to manage the development of branding in Ukraine, which will have positive consequences for changing the role of the country in the world economic geopolitics: from a raw material appendage to an active economic and political actor. Conclusions. The brand, being the bearer of the spiritual component, in the context of the economic factor of formation of both domestic and foreign policy of the country, transmits to the external environment the content of the spiritual sphere of society. Depending on the political course, national interests, economic potential and geographical opportunities, the role of the country in the geopolitical space is formed: subordinate, influential, strategic, leading.

The Application of Maqasid Al-Shari’ah in the Foreign Policy of Islamic States

Religion is crucial in the foreign policy formulation of Islamic states. Islamic law can play an important role in foreign policy formulation as Maqasid Al-Shariah (Objectives of Islamic Law) are universal. Maqasid Al-Shariah is divided into three categories: general Maqasid, specific Maqasid, and partial Maqasid. Despite this universality, there is an inadequate explanation of the application of Maqasid Al-Shariah in foreign policy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the application of Maqasid Al-Shariah in the foreign policy of Islamic states. The study employed a qualitative approach in which document analysis was used to gather information from the United Nations Human Rights report of 2015. The study found that Maqasid Al-Shariah can play a significant role in the foreign policy of Islamic states through the protection of people’s life, property, health, religion, and dignity. Further analysis revealed that Maqasid Al-Shariah can be successfully incorporated in the foreign policy-making process of Islamic states, particularly where international treaties neglect or contradict the principles of Islamic law. Hence, Maqasid Al-Shariah should be fully implemented in the foreign policy process of governments of Islamic countries at both the national and international levels.