Foreign Policy Issues Research Articles

The diplomacy of ‘Global Britain’: settling, safeguarding and seeking status

AbstractBrexit has induced a diplomatic reorientation on the part of the UK. In the post-referendum period, the UK has sought both to re-make its relationshipwithEurope (mainly through negotiating a position as a third country to the EU) and to reset its broader foreign and security policy objectivesbeyondEurope. This article explores how this has been pursued through the reinforcement of Britain’s identity, role and status as a Euro-Atlantic power, alongside a ‘plurilateral’ approach that has emphasised partnerships and foreign policy issues within and beyond Europe. Through an examination of the UK’s developing relationship with the EU and role in the United Nations and the Commonwealth, the article explores how the UK Government has sought to project British influence and to preserve the UK’s status as an international actor of note.

The View from Langley: The cia and Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the Era of “Canada First” Economic Nationalism

Postwar Canada-us relations have been punctuated by conflicts of political and economic interest. Declassified us Central Intelligence Agency (cia) documents reveal that Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s nearly sixteen years in power (1968–84) were an especially turbulent chapter in this history. Against the backdrop of the demise of the Bretton Woods system, oil shocks, and stagflation, the cia paid close attention to Canadian policy and regulatory changes that threatened us economic and energy interests. The American intelligence community attributed the Foreign Investment Review Agency, Petro-Canada, oil export controls, and the National Energy Program to the rise of a menacing “Canada First” brand of economic nationalism. From the American vantage point, these bilateral irritants became urgent foreign policy issues in the midst of the neoliberal revolution. Thecia concluded that Trudeau was an obstacle to positive Canada-us relations and briefed policy-makers right up to the president accordingly.

2012’ DEN İTIBAREN TÜRK DIŞ POLİTİKASINDA FRANSIZ ETKİSİ

Türkiye and France have had good relations since 1921. But interests of Türkiye and France do not mostly align and does even conflict in many cases since 2012. Even that France is at the very center of many problematic issues that Türkiye has to deal with. The two parties are on the opposite sides of each of many foreign policy issues -namely relations in the EU framework, the events of 1915, Mediterranean, Syrian question, possession of influence in Africa and the positions in the Caucasians- and Türkiye has to cope with French foreign policy to achieve its aims because France as a great power can not be disregarded easily for its capability to affect the course of events. The competition in foreign policy between two countries can be interpreted in terms of status quoism and revisionism. In some policy areas France is a status quo state while Türkiye is a revisionist and in some other areas, the roles are exchanged. This study aims to reveal the positions of two sides in the selected policy areas and display the challenging impact of France in Turkish Foreign Policy by using case study approach.

Constructing a "Border" with China: The Russian Approach

Abstract: The Russian and Soviet governments believed the border to be a social and political construct. They often described and considered it as a foreign policy issue and a point of military vulnerability. In the course of 70 years of Sino-Russian relations since 1949, the border turned from a porous imperial fringe to a line of defense, a zone of economic growth, and a zone of economic anxiety. Throughout this evolution process, the Russian central government failed to grant agency to the local authorities and indigenous communities. The article argues that the current Russian federal government entrusts the local government with two conflicting goals in the borderlands: building strong cross-border ties and maintaining a "strong vertical of power" with top-down management and absolute supremacy of national security matters.

Kings, Treasures, and Looting: The Evolution of Sovereign Immunity and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

Last year witnessed the conclusion of a long-fought dispute between a private party and a foreign government over an art collection with significant cultural value. It involved a treasure of ecclesiastical objects dating back to Medieval Germany that had once belonged to the royal House of Guelph and housed in the muralled medieval Brunswick Cathedral in Braunschweig, Germany. Ultimately, after over a decade of fighting, the controversy’s resolution did not involve an ownership determination by a U.S. court. Rather, the high court abstained from making a determination and instead declined to exercise jurisdiction over Germany. The lack of decision was not surprising, particularly in light of delicate foreign policy issues at play and the importance of keeping the judiciary out of international political disputes. The court’s unanimous decision was consistent with prior holdings, and so perhaps it was foreseeable that the court did not examine the merits of the ownership claims. However, a line of cases against Greece, Switzerland, and Italy did come as a shock, because they involved claims against foreign countries for asserting ownership interests in antiquities that were suspected of having been looted. Never before had governments been sued for their actions regulating the antiquities market and working to protect cultural artifacts.

Embracing or Rebuffing “the International”? Populist Foreign Policy and the Fourth Wave of Populism in Latin America

Abstract Under what conditions do populists embrace or reject “the international”? Some scholars of populism argue that populist leaders tend to neglect political (inter-)action in the international arena due to their stated preference for isolationist, nationalistic, and protectionist stances. Meanwhile, others claim that through their promotion of performative encounters and transnational solidarities between “People(s),” populists are actually more likely to engage with actors, ideas, styles, and agendas coming from abroad. This article explores this apparent contradiction, hypothesizing that three main elements influence the “populist mindset” to narrate the external world and thus adopt or rather resist new contingencies originating internationally: legitimacy, support, and opportunity. To examine the combination of these behavioral patterns, we compare two populist presidents who are paradigmatic of a fourth wave of populism in Latin America: Brazil's Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Mexico's Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). A comparative analysis of Bolsonaro's and AMLO's discursive responses to numerous foreign policy issues reveals how these three mechanisms condition their engagement or apathy toward external developments in bilateral frameworks of cooperation, regional integration schemes, multilateral organizations, and global governance institutions. The findings of this study can contribute to a greater understanding of populist foreign policies and their outcomes, with a special emphasis on Latin America and the Global South, and more generally to the emerging research on populism in international relations.

Issue-Image Trade-Offs and the Politics of Foreign Policy: How Leaders Use Foreign Policy Positions to Shape Their Personal Images

This article explains how leaders can use foreign policy issues to shape their personal images. It argues in particular that presidents and presidential candidates can use hawk-ish foreign policies to craft valuable impressions of leadership strength. This dynamic can give leaders incentives to take foreign policy positions that are more hawkish than what voters actually want. The article documents the causal foundations of this argument with a preregistered survey experiment; it presents archival evidence demonstrating that presidential candidates use unpopular foreign policies to convey attractive personal traits; and it uses observational data to show how those trade-offs have shaped three decades of presidential voting. The article’s theory and evidence indicate that democratic responsiveness in foreign policy is not as simple as doing what voters want. Leaders often need to choose between satisfying voters’ policy preferences and crafting personal images that voters find appealing. Aligning foreign policy with voters’ preferences is thus easier said than done, and it is not always the best way for leaders to maximize their public standing.

Mutual desecuritization as a model of détente? Foreign policy change in the US-Cuban dyad

In foreign policy dyads characterized by enmity, mutual desecuritization can serve as a crucial asset for détente. But how does “the way out of the emergency mode” function, considering mutual securitizations over decades? Embarking from theoretical insights provided by second generation scholars on securitization and desecuritization studies, the authors generate a theory-based model of détente for dyads. This analytical tool contributes to the study of the dissolution of historically grown, mutual (re-)securitization processes in interstate relations. By clarifying the impact and functioning of the four desecuritizing modes (replacement, silencing, change through stabilization, and rearticulation), our model allows us to trace dynamics of change and assess the sustainability of détente. Especially mutual desecuritization as rearticulation has the potential to substantially change the self-other relation with effects on the social structure of a foreign policy dyad. The heuristic case study of US-Cuban relations serves as a prime example of a complex dyad of enmity which became a subject of change due to the Obama–Castro diplomacy in 2014. The study on US-Cuban foreign policy issues before and after 2014 helps to sharpen our understanding of dynamic securitization and desecuritization processes. The overall analysis demonstrates that the modes of desecuritization during the Obama–Castro diplomacy lifted the process of détente to a new and unprecedented level.

The “State Interest” and Humanitarian Diplomacy of Oliver Cromwell

The 16th–first half of the 17th century was a vital period for the emergence of international law, sovereignty, and the modern international system. European sovereigns also started considering at that time what today would be termed humanitarian issues in foreign policy. They relied in this mostly on the contemporary theological thought and the nascent “Law of Nations,” which fostered a discourse opposing the extremes of government (tyranny). The article analyzes one of the most vivid examples of such humanitarian foreign policy – foreign intervention by the Lord Protector of the English Republic, Oliver Cromwell, in the Duchy of Savoy in 1655 to protect the Waldensian Protestants, who suffered persecution there. Contrary to the modern historiography, the article argues that Cromwell did not abandon all other state considerations in questioning the conclusion of the Anglo-French alliance against Spain to stop the repression against the Waldensians. Cromwell’s humanitarian policy was carried out in line with Realpolitik. Aware of the complicated domestic political situation in France and of the goals of French foreign policy, he was sure that Prime Minister Cardinal Mazarin was unlikely to give up the alliance with London in response to the London’s support of the Protestant subjects of the Duke of Savoy. Cromwellian Foreign Policy in SavoyPiedmont demonstrates one of the most significant cases of implementing the humanitarian principles in international relations. At the same time, Oliver Cromwell did not infringe upon the interests of his own country. On the contrary, despite the financial costs of maintaining special embassies and a fleet in the Mediterranean and creating the Waldensian Relief Fund, the support of the persecuted in Piedmont demonstrated the strength and authority of the English state.

The evangelical foreign policy model: Jair Bolsonaro and evangelicals in Brazil

The article proposes an evangelical foreign policy model to analyse the relationship between evangelical groups and conservative governments in foreign policymaking. Using Brazil as a case study, we argue that the model is defined by the convergence of views and interests between conservative cabinet members and domestic evangelical groups on four foreign policy issues that are critical to evangelicals worldwide – the relationship with Israel, persecution of Christian minorities, abortion rights, and evangelical missions in Africa. To analyse the convergence, we use an original database of 207 speeches from Brazilian evangelical parliamentarians (Evangelical Parliamentary Front) and 1992 discourses from Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet members from January 2019 to July 2022, as well as multiple documents from the main evangelical groups in Brazil. In the case of Brazil, this is the first time that typical religious considerations have been officially adopted by the country’s foreign policy, indicating the growing importance of evangelical thinking in Brazilian politics. This is also one of the first analyses, not centred in the United States, that shows how views and interests of evangelical groups and conservative governments converge in international affairs, broadening perspectives on the political participation of the ever-growing evangelical movement in the Global South.

National Conservatism, Fusionism, and the Legacy of the American Founding

Opposing conservative camps often claim the American Founding as their own. This leads to confusion amongst conservatives: What exactly does the American Founding mean for today’s politics? This article examines this question by focusing on the policy consensus of the Founders on the issues of foreign policy, trade, and immigration, three issues that currently divide the conservative movement. National conservatives are far closer than their opponents to early American policy on these issues.

Political struggle in the UK on the formation of foreign policy in the wake of Brexit

The 2016 referendum did not bring a decisive advantage to either supporters (Bremainers) or opponents (Brexiters) of Britain’s membership in the European Union, which led to their acute confrontation and a prolonged political crisis in the United Kingdom. The aim of the study is to determine the impact and consequences of the struggle of rival forces in the leading parties of Britain — Conservative and Labour — on their course on the main issues of British foreign policy after the parliamentary elections of 2019 and Britain’s exit from the EU. The struggle of the rival forces goes through the lines of inter- and intra-party division, and its methods go beyond the traditions and unwritten rules previously adopted in the political culture of the United Kingdom. The tough struggle on foreign policy issues is closely linked to domestic politics. The victory of the Conservative Party in the 2019 elections ensured the adoption by Parliament of laws strengthening the executive power to the detriment of the legislative and judicial (who sided with the Bremainers). The documents of the government, parliament, parties and media materials analysis is presented of the methods used by Brexiters and Bremainers to weaken each other, complicating relations with the US and the EU, sacrificing bilateral relations with Russia to their narrow-party interests. The confrontation continues, plunging Britain into a new round of political and economic crisis, which calls into question the ambitious goals of “Global Britain”.

Pages from the History of the Democratic League of China in the Late Republican Period

This article concerns the origins, development and activities of one of the oldest Chinese democratic parties — the Democratic League of China from its inception to the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. New documents and materials discovered in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, in particular, the Bulletins of the Information Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on foreign policy issues, shed light on little-studied questions about the role and place of this democratic organization in the Chinese revolution. Under patriotic slogans, the Democratic League united in its ranks both non-partisan public figures and political parties and groups with various views, from nationalist to pro-communist. Despite the diverse political composition of small parties and groups, the league turned into a coalition trying to find a “third way” between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the ruling Kuomintang party. The growing authoritarianism of the Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek and the implementation of pro-Japanese policies by the Kuomintang members undermined the foundations of the national anti-Japanese united front and undermined the war of resistance. These circumstances repelled the country's patriotic forces from the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang's suppression of the democratic movement led to a reorientation of the Democratic League's policies. The League publicly announced cooperation with the CCP until the complete collapse of the reactionary Kuomintang government, for democracy, peace and independence of the country. The work of the Democratic League helped to unite the broad groups of the population into the patriotic movement for a new China. After the formation of the People's Republic of China, at the suggestion of Mao Zedong, the league was preserved, its leaders received posts in the government. Currently, members of the Democratic League are mainly engaged in cultural and educational work.

Chanceler Adenauer’s the Theory of Crises of the USSR

In the article, the author analyses the foreign policy views of the FRG Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the preconditions for the Soviet Union to change its foreign policy course. Given Adenauer's dominant position in the system of foreign policy decision-making, it was these views that for many years formed the conceptual foundations of the German eastern policy. The Chancellor's set of beliefs includes two key blocks related to the expectations of economic crisis in the USSR and the escalation of Soviet-Chinese contradictions. Economic problems combined with generational changes and the need to raise the living standards of the population should have led the Soviet Union, in the Chancellor's opinion, to limit the arms race and make concessions to the West. The Soviet-Chinese contradictions which were supposed to have a restraining effect on Soviet foreign policy were also an important factor for Adenauer. In the long term, these problems should have forced the Soviet Union to give up its position in Europe and to make concessions on the German question. These two crucial components formed the theory of crises, which the Chancellor shared with his interlocutors on foreign policy issues. The sources of the study are primarily documents from Adenauer's archive in Röndorf (Germany).

Can buying weapons from your friends make you better off? Evidence from NATO

In this paper we analyse the effect of multilateral defence alliances and arms trade on economic growth of allies. Previous literature shows that military alliances may improve institutional development and efficiency in defence budget allocation, with consequent enhancement of economic performance. We postulate that importing advanced weapons from allies can bring about technology diffusion. This conjecture is developed theoretically assessing the effect of arms imports on domestic military technology and output. The model is tested for the countries that have a partnership relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for years 1990 to 2019. We confirm empirically the theoretical suggestion of military technology spillovers, namely, that imports of frontier technology arms from allies have positive effects on output and productivity through a diffusion of foreign knowledge. Our findings imply that policy makers should have in mind that foreign policy issues, security matters in this case, may interact with economic goals. • We analyse the effect of arms imports on economic growth of military allies. • Theoretical and empirical analysis is performed for NATO allies. • Output growth and arms imports from NATO allies are significantly positively related. • Advanced arms imports bring about an increase in technology via a spillover mechanism. • International cooperation in security can help improve economic performance.

PR technologies and American foreign policy: points of contact

Abstract. The article focuses on the use of PR technologies by the government of the United States of America in the field of foreign policy. It highlights the prominent role of these PR technologies in promoting American values, expanding international cooperation, and strengthening partnerships. Moreover, these technologies are actively used in use governing. The purpose of the article is to analyse the use of PR technologies as part of specific foreign policy actions. The author observes that the majority of scientists who study the effects of PR technologies emphasise their particularly positive impact in the field of international relations as that is where the function of strategic management, which is important specifically in foreign policy issues, acquires a new meaning. PR technologies are an important tool for influencing public opinion and an element of forming and managing the state’s image. The author examines the use of PR technologies in America’s foreign policy from a historicist perspective, using examples of various foreign policy developments that involved or continue to involve the USA to pinpoint the application of specific PR technologies and their effect. One interesting finding is that instead of the ‘traditional’ PR tools, the American Government uses rather unconventional ones, mainly practised in foreign policy, including diplomatic efforts, diplomatic pressure, lobbying, complex media campaigns, engagement of ‘influencers’, psychological operations, etc. The study also highlights the functions performed by PR technologies in America’s foreign policy, such as governing, communication, protection, popularisation, etc. The author emphasises that the use of PR technologies is not a new phenomenon in American foreign policy but rather a major long-standing component of foreign policy. Several historical events, such as the Vietnam War, are cited to exemplify the importance of these tools. The article also draws attention to the specific developers of certain PR technologies used in American foreign policy Keywords: USA, PR, foreign policy, PR tools, Department of State.

ЄВРОСКЕПТИЦИЗМ У ПРОГРАМНИХ ЗАСАДАХ ІСПАНСЬКОЇ ПРАВОРАДИКАЛЬНОЇ ПАРТІЇ VOX («ГОЛОС»)

The article examines the programme principles of the right-wing radical party «Vox» in Spain. The factors that influenced its emergence and further development are studied, the factors that led to the growth of the popularity of this political force are identified. The specific features of Spanish nationalism, the role of the historical past and Catholicism in its formation are analysed. A special role in the study is given to the analysis of manifestations of Euroscepticism in the activities of the Voice. It is noted that it is moderate in nature and focuses primarily on the desire to strengthen the role of national governments, rejecting any supranational governance bodies whose decisions would be binding on EU member states. An analysis of the party's programme documents and speeches by its leaders shows that nationalism is the key dominant cluster, and the issue of European integration is not a priority in them. In these documents, «Vox» acts as an opponent of the EU on a number of issues related to the country's participation in the EU and its activities. While criticising the EU and revealing the negative consequences of Spain's participation in this structure, «Vox» and its leaders have never raised the issue of the country's withdrawal from the EU. Its criticism is primarily related to the rejection of the model in which the integration process is implemented. The party does not accept the EU's course towards federalisation and further expansion of its functions at the expense of the sovereignty of national states. «Vox» presents its voters with its vision of the model for the implementation of European integration. The European Union should become a community of free nations that cooperate with each other and join forces in areas where they can definitely achieve much faster and more efficiently together than separately. The peculiarity of the Voice is that a significant place in its programme documents is occupied by foreign policy issues, in particular, EU foreign policy. The party and its leaders fully support the EU's policy towards Russia in the Ukrainian crisis. They are in favour of developing EU-Spain relations with the US and NATO. The analysis of the party documents of «Vox» allows us to conclude that the issue of European integration is not central to the party. Criticism of the EU and the inclusion of this topic in the party's ideological postulates stem from its ideological basis, formed on the basis of key concepts of Spanish nationalism, adapted to the realities of Spain's modern development and the challenges it faces in the context of globalisation. Keywords: Spain, political party, Euroscepticism, «Vox», right-wing radicalism.

ГЕНДЕРНОЕ ПРЕДСТАВИТЕЛЬСТВО И ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ЖЕНЩИН В ПУБЛИЧНОЙ ПОЛИТИКЕ

In Russian society, women make up the majority, but their share in the Russian parliament as of 2023 is 19.6%, which indicates a persistent gender imbalance. The article is based on the results of quantitative biographical analysis and data on the presence of women in both chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. In total, the positions of 383 women who used to be or are currently deputies of the State Duma or the Federation Council (from 1993 to the present) were analyzed. The authors analyzed not only the fact of the presence of women in legislatures but also their place in the parliamentary hierar-chy, their political habitat, their legislative activity and its orientation. The data showed a slow increasein the presence of women in legislative bodies, which is explained, in the opinion of the authors, by the presence of a «glass ceiling», which has not yet been overcome. One of the possible reasons is the policy of «gender tithing», which is when the political system allows an increase in the representation of women to a certain limit (at the level of 10–15%). There are still political zones that are practically inaccessible to women (these are issues of foreign and defense policy), and the influence of the «weaker sex»on poli-tics, although expanding, still remains within the traditional roles associated with the regulation of social policy, issues of motherhood, childhood, ecology, tourism, sports. Such an approach hinders the integra-tion of women into the political process and needs to be adjusted in the interests of gender equality.

The Republic of Kazakhstan on attracting foreign investmentcurrent policy issues

The main issue considered in the article is the analysis of the policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on attracting foreign investment in terms of its attractiveness, the current investment situation in the country and the growth rate of external investments. Consideration of regulatory legal acts in the field of investments in the Republic of Kazakhstan, protection of this industry on a legal basis. Determination of the place of special economic zones in the development of the investment sphere, consideration of its impact on the country’s economy. Determination of the location of existing stock exchanges in Kazakhstan, consideration of measures in the field of attracting investments. Suggestions and comments were made on the consideration of Kazakhstan’s indicators in the world ranking on attracting investments, determining risks and risks of investing in the country. The evaluation of the work of state bodies in the field of attracting investments, the determination of the purpose of the Kazakh Invest company in the field of investments, the provision of scientific proposals is carried out.

Изменения в политическом ландшафте Германии после начала боевых действий на Украине: вызовы для России

The article deals with the changes in public opinion and balance of political forces in Germany after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. The analyses of sociological polls revealed that German population has been experiencing the break of old patterns and the division on the most important foreign policy issues. Also, the article presents a graph of government rating created by the author. It shows that while the support for ruling coalition declines, opposition’s ranking improves. However, the graph of parties’ ranking demonstrates that the support for governing Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Free Democratic Party, as well as the opposition Left Party dropping, the rating of Christian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union, ‘Alternative for Germany’ and governing Alliance 90 / The Greens improves. Comparison of survey data with party materials revealed the reasons for the strengthening and weakening of various political forces. In the end, the author draws conclusions regarding the impact of changes in the party-political balance on Russian-German relations. The main challenge for our countries is that most German parties are united in condemning Moscow's policies. The more open to dialogue AfD and part of the Left Party have no chance of entering the federal and state governments, and interaction with the right-wing populist ‘Alternative for Germany’ could discredit Russia.