Foreign Policy Attitudes Research Articles

The Diplomacy of Whataboutism and US Foreign Policy Attitudes

AbstractDoes whataboutism work in global affairs? When states face international criticism, they often respond with whataboutism: accusing their critics of similar faults. Despite its prevalence in policy discussions, whataboutism remains an understudied influence strategy. This study investigates how states use whataboutism to shape American public opinion across various international issues. We find, using survey experiments, that whataboutism mitigates the negative impacts of criticism by reducing public approval of US positions and backing for punitive actions. Whataboutist critiques referencing similar, recent misdeeds have more power to shape opinions. However, the identity of the whataboutist state does not significantly affect effectiveness. US counter-messaging often fails to diminish the effects of whataboutism. These results show that whataboutism can be a potent rhetorical tool in international relations and that it warrants greater attention from international relations scholars.

Articulation of Indonesia's Bebas-Aktif Foreign Policy in Responding Russia-Ukraine Conflict

This study is about Indonesia's foreign policy in responding to the Russian and Ukrainian conflict. The war in Ukraine has attracted wide attention and influenced many country's foreign policy, including Indonesia as one of the middle powers in Asia. The conflict has sharpened the bipolarization between Ukraine supported by Western countries and Russia itself. It presents serious challenges for Indonesia, which has long been known as a neutral and non-aligned country. Under the free-active foreign policy doctrine, Indonesia is facing serious challenges to take a firm stance on the Russian-Ukrainian war and continuing its leadership in the G20 and ASEAN. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze Indonesia's foreign policy behavior and its country's role it has built in dealing with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. By using role theory of foreign policy analysis and qualitative research methods especially textual analysis, this study finds that Indonesia displays three faces of foreign policy toward Russia-Ukraine war. First, steadfast commitment and respect to international law and the UN Charter, especially sovereignty and territorial integrity; Second, articulate free-active foreign policy attitude that integrates two opposing blocks; Third, pursue foreign policy that is advantageous for domestic interests and economic gains.

THE CRIMEAN KHANATE BEFORE AND AFTER THE ANNEXATION IN THE RUSSIAN-OTTOMAN DIPLOMATIC CONFRONTATION

The Crimean Khanate on the eve and after the annexation in the Russian-Ottoman diplomatic confrontation is a key factor in the further expansion of the Russian Empire in the Balkans. Understanding the possible loss of influence on the Crimean Khanate, the Russian government is resorting to the complete annexation of Crimea and the liquidation of the Crimean Khanate. All subsequent actions of the Russian government concerned only issues of preparation for the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula. During the period of interwar relations – from 1774 to 1787, Russian-Ottoman relations continued to remain tense. The Ottoman state did not give up the fight for Crimea after concluding the Kyuchyuk-Kainardzhii Treaty, which it was forced to ratify due to internal difficulties. The Russian Empire intervened in the Crimean affairs, destabilizing the internal state of the Crimean Khanate. In 1779, the Ainaly-Kavak Convention was concluded, which obliged the Russian Empire not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Crimea. But even after that, the Russian Empire continued to take actions aimed at the complete annexation of Crimea. This fact, as well as the occupation of Georgia by the Russian Empire and the favorable foreign policy position of the Ottoman state, became the reason for the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the Ottoman government and the Russian Empire and the development of further Russian-Ottoman confrontation.

A Comprehensive Aspect-Level Approach to the Personality Micro-Foundations of Foreign Policy Attitudes.

We analyze in this article the effects of personality on attitudes toward foreign policy through a comprehensive aspect-level approach. We claim that previous observed null domain-level effects are the product of the aspect-level effects of opposing signs. By and large, we show that some personality effects are of comparable size or bigger than demographics studied in the literature, and that some of these effects are unique and independent of demographic covariates. Our results show that openness, orderliness, and compassion render people to be more supportive of cooperation. Assertiveness is the primary driver of support for the use of military force, whereas politeness and withdrawal ground reverse effects. Volatility roots isolationism postures, whereas industriousness, enthusiasm, and compassion show strong opposing effects. Moving beyond the Big Five personality domain approach provides us with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how personality is associated with attitudes toward international issues.

A DYNAMIC ADDITIVE AND MULTIPLICATIVE EFFECTS NETWORK MODEL WITH APPLICATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS VOTING BEHAVIORS.

Motivated by a study of United Nations voting behaviors, we introduce a regression model for a series of networks that are correlated over time. Our model is a dynamic extension of the additive and multiplicative effects network model (AMEN) of Hoff (2021). In addition to incorporating a temporal structure, the model accommodates two types of missing data thus allows the size of the network to vary over time. We demonstrate via simulations the necessity of various components of the model. We apply the model to the United Nations General Assembly voting data from 1983 to 2014 (Voeten, 2013) to answer interesting research questions regarding international voting behaviors. In addition to finding important factors that could explain the voting behaviors, the model-estimated additive effects, multiplicative effects, and their movements reveal meaningful foreign policy positions and alliances of various countries.

Battle for the European Union in the periphery: contestation dynamics and domestic debates

ABSTRACT Connected by a shared endeavour to enhance understanding of the forces that shape contestation toward the EU in its peripheries and unprohibited in approach, this special section explores the concepts of contestation and periphery. Using various methodological approaches, the section showcases a series of overlapping and cross-cutting themes which contextually strengthen the phenomenon and experiences of contestation in peripheral states. In aggregating these themes, the authors attribute contestation to the growing ‘absence’ of the EU’s normative interest in peripheral states and the growing transactional/functional features that define peripheral state relationships with the EU. The authors draw attention to the opportunities for regional rivals, such as Russia and China to capitalize on the absence of the EU’s transformative power in peripheral states, the role of domestic forces in utilizing contestation as a means to preserve regime type and satisfy sovereignty concerns, and the incidences of peripheral states in shaping/reshaping their foreign policy positions in response to the Russia-Ukraine War. Taken together, our special section shows that contestation in Europe’s periphery is less an overt normative resistance against the EU and more an absence of EU normative efforts in peripheral states and the increasingly functional features which define peripheral states’ relationships with the EU.

Hawks Become Us: The Sense of Power and Militant Foreign Policy Attitudes

How does power shape foreign policy attitudes? Drawing on advances in psychological research on power, I argue that the sense of relative state power explains foreign policy hawkishness. The intuitive sense that “our state” is stronger than “your state” activates militant internationalism, an orientation centered on the efficacy of force and deterrence to achieve state aims. Beyond general orientation towards the world, this sense of power explains discrete attitudes towards pressing security issues, from threat perception in the South China Sea to nuclear weapons use against Iran. Five original surveys across the US, China, and Russia, as well as an experiment fielded on the US public, lend support to these claims. The psychological effects of state power overshadow dispositional traits common in behavioral IR, like individuals’ personalities and moral proclivities. More surprisingly, power changes individuals, making hawks of even the most dovish. Taken together, the paper presents a “first image reversed” challenge to standard bottom-up accounts of foreign policy opinion and offers unique explanatory leverage in a potential era of US decline, China’s rise, and Russian belligerence.

A Letter from John III of Sweden to King Charles IX of France: A New Source for the History of the Baltic Wars

The letter of King John III of Sweden to King Charles IX of France from October 13, 1568, covers several subjects of the history of Baltic wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. What is most noticeable among them is the reasons why John III’s brother King Eric XIV was overthrown in September 1568, the plot against John of Finland to hand over Catherine Jagiellon, his wife and sister of Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish king, and grand duke of Lithuania, to the Russian czar Ivan the Terrible, as well as the period when the Northern Seven Years’ War ended. After his accession to the throne, John III faced several problems, which he had to solve. Firstly, the second son of Gustav I of Sweden had to legitimise his ascension in the eyes of the European monarchs, then break the international isolation of the Swedish kingdom and protect himself from internal and external conspiracies. His main goal was to free the imprisoned Eric XIV. The solution to these problems depended directly on stabilising Sweden’s foreign policy position, achievable through reconciliation with a hostile coalition of Denmark, Lübeck, and Poland and building an alliance with the French royal court, which offered mediation to end the hostilities. In the text of the published letter, the Swedish king appeals to the feelings of the French monarch, trying to show the “baseness” and “wickedness” of his elder brother’s policy, but also assures him of sincere friendship, proving the long-standing allied nature of the Swedish-French relations. All this makes the letter of John III to Charles IX a valuable historical source, whose value is fully revealed in the context of Swedish-French, Russian-Swedish and Russian-French relations in the sixteenth century. Published for the first time, it comes from the collection of P. P. Dubrovsky (13, No. 9), Russian National Library (St Petersburg). The article publishes the text of the letter in Latin as well as a translation into Russian.

COVID-19, Anti-Chinese Sentiment, and Foreign Policy Attitudes in South Korea

COVID-19 generated significant anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea. Domestic elite-level narratives regarding China at the pandemic’s onset were highly polarized: conservative parties advocated border shutdowns, emphasizing China as originating the virus, while progressive parties warned that this would incite xenophobia. Did these narratives shape anti-Chinese sentiment, and what are their foreign policy effects? Using social media data, I show that despite the polarized narratives at the elite level, attitudes of both conservative and progressive voters became unfavorable toward China following COVID-19’s onset. Furthermore, statistical analyses of survey data show that this blame is strongly associated with negative perceptions of China. Although substantively not directly linked to foreign policy, blame of China is strongly associated with rejection of foreign policy alignment with China and a shift toward supporting alignment with the US. These results have implications for understanding public support of South Korea’s foreign policy amid US–China bifurcation.

Current socio-economic situation in Russia and the priorities of its development

The relevance of this topic is determined by the fact that socio-economic development of the state directly affects the development of the country itself, its domestic and foreign policy, economic and social position in the world, and its national security. Socio-economic development determines the status of the country in the international arena. Socio-economic development is an expanded reproduction, gradual structural and qualitative changes in the economy, production forces, growth and development factors. Currently, the goals of the socio-economic development of the state and the regions are increasing incomes, improving the quality of education and healthcare, reducing the proportion of the poor, protecting the environment, expanding personal freedoms, equalizing opportunities, etc. It is essential to increase economic growth, which creates favorable conditions for expanding the base of taxes and contributions to state non-budgetary funds, helps to reduce unemployment, and expands access to social assistance systems. The article shows that to a large extent, social peace in society and stable and friendly relations between employers and employees are achieved by means of the social insurance system. The materials of the article can be useful as part of the preparation in the areas of Economics and Management.

The Influence of Digital Diplomacy on Foreign Policy

The Internet revolution has affected all aspects of life, including international relations. Diplomacy as a tool of foreign policy has also being transformed by this revolution. This paper examines the concept of digital diplomacy, focusing on the use of digital media in the field of diplomacy and how countries are utilizing these tools in the pursuit of their foreign policies. It examines the opportunities and challenges these media offer for diplomatic activities, and argues that countries cannot afford to be left behind in this era of digital diplomacy as they can greatly benefit from these emerging diplomatic trends. Digital diplomacy and Internet activities as a whole can greatly assist in projecting a state’s foreign policy positions to domestic and foreign audiences. digital diplomacy helps to strength relations between North and South, it gives several chances in getting authentic information which enhances economic, political and diplomatic relations in an International arena.

Геополитический аспект стратегии регионального пространственного развития Дальнего Востока России

The purpose of the article is to determine the role of the regions, in particular, the Far East, in the geostrategic projects of Russia. In the context of a significant complication of the foreign policy positions of the Russian Federation, the development of a state geopolitical concept that takes into account, in addition to the problems that have become traditional, the complexity of regional issues is of particular importance. In preparing the article, the principles of the system method were mainly used. The macroregions of modern Russia are considered in the unity of geopolitical, geographical, socio-cultural, economic and other determinants. The article discusses the specifics of the Russian Far East and the reasons for the increased interest in it at the present stage. The process of formation of new forms of internal regionalization is not spontaneous. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the ongoing processes of regionalization of both the Russian Federation and the PRC, other neighboring states with taking into account the peculiarities of regional geopolitics. In conclusion, the author substantiates the position that the Far Eastern region is important both in terms of resources and in building a system of national and regional security. The practical and theoretical significance of the work lies in the fact that the macro-region of the Russian Far East acquires strategic importance for the states of the Asia-Pacific region and the Pacific, and, therefore, the identification of their interests and opportunities for cooperation is important for further research and for the development of practical policies at both the federal and regional levels.

Israel: a novel wedge issue in Canadian electoral politics

AbstractThis article investigates the relationship between partisan foreign policy positions on Israel and the voting behavior of religious minorities in Canada. It discusses Stephen Harper's strong pro-Israeli stance in foreign policy when the Conservatives were in power and focuses on two main explanations accounting for such politicization of Israel, namely moral obligations and political clientelism. These hypotheses are tested using the 1968–2015 Canadian Election Study (CES) surveys and the 2011–2015 Vox Pop Labs election data. The results suggest that the Israeli issue had an impact on the support for the Conservatives among voters from religious minorities. Considering the effect of this foreign policy positions, Jewish Canadians are shown to be more supportive of the Conservatives, while the opposite pattern is observed among Muslim Canadians. The implications of these findings are then discussed.

Experts, activists, and girl bosses of the nuclear apocalypse: feminisms in security discourse

Having long been regarded as irrelevant to the high politics of foreign affairs, feminism and gender equality have in recent years gained increased attention in international security debates, including discussions about nuclear weapons policy. Several governments have adopted official feminist foreign policy postures, international security institutions have launched inquiries into gender equity and representation, and a myriad of security actors have enthusiastically embraced the language of women’s empowerment. Mapping the various modes of purported feminist practice on display in the nuclear policy field, we find that being “pro women” has become a sought-after rhetorical asset on both sides of the nuclear weapons debate. Reflecting wider trends in the corporate world, constituents of the nuclear weapons industry have increasingly embraced liberal feminist language and workplace diversity goals. These practices, we suggest, have helped challenge the perception of the nuclear industry as overly masculine, aiding recruitment to, and overall political legitimation of, the nuclear weapons enterprise. This development is significant because it functions to undercut the association between feminism and opposition to nuclear weapons, thus complicating efforts to advance arms control and disarmament through feminist interventions.

Norm spoiling, gender washing and the pushback against women’s rights in Brazilian foreign policy

ABSTRACT The rise of radical right governments has intensified the pushback against gender norms in international forums. States who traditionally embraced gender equality in their foreign policies are now recreating their repertoires to resist their promotion. This was the case of Brazilian foreign policy under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. During his government, Brazil reoriented its foreign policy attitude, privileging family and moral values against the threat of 'gender ideology'. Yet, the rise of this anti-feminist foreign policy was suffused with ambivalence and inconsistencies. This article explores these contrasting repertoires to shed light on how anti-gender actors engage with gender equality norms in multilateral settings. We argue that Brazil used a double-track approach that combines norm spoiling and gender washing to maintain a conservative and yet acceptable international profile.

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.

Air Pollution Coverage, Anti-Chinese Sentiment, and Attitudes Towards Foreign Policy in South Korea.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11366-023-09849-z.

China’s Military and Military-Technical Cooperation with Central Asian Countries in the XXI Century

The article analyzes the cooperation between China and Central Asian countries in the military and military-technical spheres which is developing dynamically lately and is of priority importance for China’s foreign policy. The growth of China’s national power and its correlation with foreign policy attitudes are revealed. In foreign policy China adheres to the policy of activating military diplomacy as an integral element of state policy. Traditionally, China is considered a key economic and investment partner of the Central Asian countries but against the background of global transformation processes it is also actively trying to position itself as a guarantor of regional security. The reasons for China’s interest in intensifying military cooperation with all countries of the region in bilateral and multilateral formats are revealed. China is striving to contribute to strengthening the defense capabilities of the countries of the region. In order to stop regional challenges and threats China is increasing arms supplies to the countries of the region, conducting joint military exercises and training military personnel from the countries of the region in its educational institutions. The article focuses on such multilateral mechanisms of China’s cooperation with Central Asian countries as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the “Quadrilateral Mechanism for Cooperation and Coordination” (QMCC). It is predicted that in the conditions of the formation of a new world order as well as the interest of the countries of the region themselves military cooperation between China and the countries of Central Asia will only increase.

FORMATION OF NICHOLAS II'S "GREAT ASIA PROGRAM"

The article is about the Greater Asian program of Emperor Nicholas II, and the reasons why the political situation between the Higuemond countries at the end of the 19th century and the end of the 20th century changed Russia's foreign policy position towards the Far East.

Quantifying Foreign Policy Europeanization: A Comprehensive Approach

This article seeks to address the question of how membership in the European Union (EU) affects the foreign policy positions of its Member States. Most of the existing research has focused on single case studies and relied on qualitative methods, encountering difficulties in providing a systematic and consistent general picture about the causal effect of membership. Instead, this study adopts a comprehensive and quantitative approach. Drawing from constructivist theory in International Relations, it clarifies a general theoretical framework for Foreign Policy Europeanization. It then employs national speeches at the United Nations General Debate to construct two measures of similarity with the EU’s positions and norms in international affairs. Applying these to a difference-in-differences approach, it finds substantial evidence that, after several years of membership, countries gradually converge towards the positions and norms of the Union. It is argued that these overall findings are consistent with a socialization effect, but not with material cost-benefit calculations. Europeanization, Foreign Policy, European Union, United Nations General Debate, Socialization, Constructivism, Difference-in-differences, Quantitative Text Analysis