Foreign Policy Practice Research Articles

Bringing the Empire Back In: The Gradual Discovery of the Ottoman Empire in Turkish Foreign Policy

This article traces the emergence of references to the Ottoman Empire in the discourse and practice of Turkish foreign policy since the late 1940s. It argues that present-day emphasis on the Ottoman Empire and its legacy in Turkey has not happened in a vacuum, but rather has been a gradual process that has taken place over decades, helping to justify Turkey’s foreign policy. The article also shows that politicians from different sections of the political spectrum were crucial in reclaiming the Ottoman past in foreign policy. The consequences of this reclamation have been twofold. First, foreign policy, both in terms of practice and discourse, has become yet another venue, among many, for the continuous framing and reframing of Turkey’s past, paving the way for further Ottomanisation of the Turkish identity. Second, this Ottomanisation, or reclaiming of aspects that characterised the Ottoman Empire, has helped Turkey’s political actors justify and legitimise Turkey’s policies not only externally but, at times, also internally – as was the case in the 1990s, when some of these political actors tried to deal with Kurdish separatism by using the legacy of the Ottoman Empire.

Making sense of the EU’s response to the Arab uprisings: foreign policy practice at times of crisis

ABSTRACTThe Arab uprisings of 2011 put into question previously held understandings about the stability of authoritarian regimes in North Africa as well as the European Union’s (EU’s) relations with countries in its southern neighbourhood. Despite early calls on behalf of the EU to change its policies, the Union’s responses in the early stages seemed mostly characterised by continuity. This article claims that certain dispositions and background knowledge developed over several decades vis-à-vis EU’s Mediterranean policies served as a baseline from which EU officials and diplomats acted. Drawing on insights from practice approaches, the article argues that the practical understandings on what the EU can (and cannot) do vis-à-vis partner countries in North Africa create a kind of power politics of practical dispositions. The article focuses on the European Neighbourhood Policy - the EU’s flagship initiative - and builds on a unique set of data that combine policy documents and interviews with about 30 EU officials and national diplomats from before and after the Arab uprisings. In this way, it illustrates how practice relates to change in that even though the EU’s responses drew on an established repertoire of practice, enacting it in a new context opened up new possibilities for action.

A Small State? The Size of the Netherlands as a Focal Point in Foreign Policy Debates, 1900–1940

ABSTRACTDo small states behave in an appreciably different fashion than their larger counterparts? Social scientists and historians have, for decades, searched for the defining features that set small states apart from larger ones and have come up empty. This analysis suggests that rather than searching for another set of membership criteria, focus should be on the explanatory power of the discourses surrounding the size of states. As this article demonstrates, based on a reading of Dutch international history from the late nineteenth century to the advent of the Second World War, the changing shape of discourses surrounding the “smallness” did historically influence foreign policy practices.

When Can Idea Entrepreneurs Influence Foreign Policy? Explaining the Rise of the “Turkic World” in Turkish Foreign Policy

This study aims to shift the focus of scholarship on ideas and foreign policy from its overwhelming concern with domestic structures and institutional setup toward a greater awareness of the importance of changing national identity conceptions. I argue that Turkey’s foreign policy toward the post-Soviet Turkic Eurasia has been influenced by an ideational factor—the idea of the “Turkic World.” Advocated by nonstate actors, “Turkic World” was rapidly internalized by a wide range of political actors in Turkey in the 1990s. Despite the eventual fading of the geopolitical importance of the region for Turkey and the rise to power of a political party with Islamist roots, the idea has gained a “taken for granted” status in Turkey’s foreign policy interests and practices. I argue that idea entrepreneurs can influence foreign policy when two conditions are met: first, when a critical juncture prompts decision makers to search for a new foreign policy framework and second, when the evolving national identity conceptions of the ruling elite overlap with the general premise of the idea entrepreneurs’ proposals. In this case, “Turkic World” has not only provided Turkish decision makers with a pragmatic foreign policy course but also spoken to their changing “worldviews.”

Turkish foreign policy as an anomaly: revisionism and irredentism through diplomacy in the 1930s

This article discusses why Turkey persisted in diplomacy in the pursuit of a proactive foreign policy during the 1930s while use of force and unilateral action were the popular alternatives. Accordingly, first, the prevailing literature will be examined outlining five primary foreign policy practices of the time, namely, revisionism, irredentism, bandwagoning, appeasement and isolationism. The article will then discuss the foreign policy preference of Turkey which stands as an anomaly in comparison to its contemporaries, focusing on two main cases: Turkey’s reacquisition of the Straits and the accession of Alexandretta. After analysing the underlying factors behind Turkey’s persistent attachment to multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, the article will conclude by applying the term ‘Holder of Balance’ to Turkish foreign policy in the 1930s. Overall, it is argued that the Great Depression attributed a new role to Turkey, the holder of European balance, enabling partnership with both aggressors and appeasers and thus facilitating the settlement of disputes through diplomacy.

Social media and counterterrorism strategy

ABSTRACTWith the rise of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the issue of domestic radicalisation has taken on renewed significance for Western democracies. In particular, attention has been drawn to the potency of ISIS engagement on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Several governments have emphasised the importance of online programs aimed at undermining ISIS recruitment, including the use of state-run accounts on a variety of social media platforms to respond directly to ISIS messaging. This article assesses the viability of online counter-radicalisation by examining the effectiveness of similar programs at the US State Department over the last decade. The article argues that governments attempting to counter online radicalisation of their domestic populations must take seriously the significant shortcomings of these State Department programs. The most relevant issue in this regard is the recurring problem of credibility, when the authenticity of government information is undercut by the realities of foreign policy practice, and existing perceptions of hypocrisy and duplicity are reinforced in target audiences.

Simulations for the Discipline Specific and Professional Education of Foreign Policy Graduates

Increasingly universities aim to provide students with opportunities to graduate with skills ready to perform in the workplace. However, workplace-based opportunities for students enrolled in foreign policy subjects are more limited due to the diplomatic and sensitive political nature of the professional work. Thus there exists a need for higher education institutions teaching foreign policy courses in generalist degrees to create innovative solutions to enable student experience of professional foreign policy practice. In this article we analyse our Australian foreign policy dual strategy teaching initiative where we deploy in-person simulations enabling students to develop both their discipline specific foreign policy knowledge and gain insights in, and experience with, professional competencies and non-technical skills. Student, industry, and staff participant feedback demonstrates the benefits of the simulations for both discipline specific learning and professional skills development.

«SOFT POWER» IN THE CONTEXT OF ISSUES OF NATIONAL SECURITY

This article analyzes the approaches to the understanding of the terms "hard" and "soft" power. In this work is also exposed the nature of the tools used in the process of "soft" foreign influences: ideological, axiological, informative, cultural, inter alia, covering several areas such as education, sports, fashion, popular culture, etc. The analysis of the evolution of approaches to the use of "soft power "in the second half of 20 century, and especially to use “soft” instruments, including in the framework of bipolar confrontation of the “cold war” era is carried out. The changes in the use of "soft" effects in the 21 century, a were envisaged. Also is revealed the tendency to make greater use of hybrid instruments based on a combination of "hard" and "soft" power, which are considered today as the most appropriate mechanism to ensure its own national security and the implementation of foreign policy objectives, from the point of view of the prevailing conditions of the international agenda. The main risks of destructive and illegal use of "soft power" in relations between states, manifested in exerting political pressure on sovereign States, interfering in their internal affairs, destabilization, manipulation of public opinion and consciousness, are determined. The article defines the problems of counteraction to destructive "soft" influence, as one of the most urgent tasks of national security. The possibility of using the tools of "soft power" in Russia's foreign policy practice is disclosed. The most promising directions in this area, including the development of institutions of public diplomacy; civil society; religious institutions; media, revealing the position of Russia on the most pressing international issues, education and science are identified.

Between ‘Concern’ and ‘Opportunity’: US Pivot to Asia and Foreign Policy Debate in India

Underlined by China’s growth and the relative decline of the US, a transition of power is taking place in Asia-Pacific. To arrest its declining influence, the US has initiated a pivot to the region. India, being a regional rising power, has received special attention from the US as part of its strategy to manage Asia’s changing balance of power. On pivot, domestic foreign policy debate in India is highly fractured, however. Perceptions of the pivot in India range between viewing it as a ‘strategic concern’, on the one hand, and a ‘strategic opportunity’, on the other. This debate reflects the divide between two major schools in Indian foreign policy: Traditional Nationalists versus the Great Power Realists. Under Manmohan Singh, India foreign policy practice indicated a preference for ‘strategic autonomy’ as suggested by the Traditional Nationalists. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ascension to power suggests that India is now ready for greater engagement with the US on balancing China’s growing power in Asia, a position espoused by the Great Power Realists.

Evolution of Biotechnology and Information Technology and Its Impact on Human Security

Abstract: The development of post-industrial society initiates profound economic, technological and cultural change in the way of life of all mankind. The revolutionary breakthroughs in the field of new technologies such as biotechnology and information technology are reflected in all spheres of human activity, directly affecting the human security. The article analyzes the consequences of widespread usage biotechnology and information technology in the foreign policy practice on the basis of the human security theory. The detailed description of the main directions of the use of biometric technology in the foreign policy and consular practices is provided, the challenges and threats to information security associated with biometrics are analyzed, arising from widespread biotechnology are the main challenges and threats to as well as human security threats arising at the present stage of development and application of these technologies. Human security threats associated with the use of biotechnology are placed in the broader context of global trends in scientific and technological development. The recommendations are formulated in the field of foreign policy and international cooperation, which would neutralize new threats to international and personal safety arising at the present stage of development of biotechnology. The authors conclude that in order to ensure ethical regulation of new technologies that address issues of human security, it is necessary to organize multi-stakeholder partnerships at national and international level with the participation of states, representatives of civil society, business and the research community.

Understanding Divergence between Public Discourse and Turkish Foreign Policy Practice: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis

This article explores the divergence between public discourse and Turkish foreign policy practice in the context of Turkey's regional pressures. It argues that divergence occurs because elites rearrange the hierarchy of domestic ideas that connect with foreign policy. This allows them to respond to regional threats appropriately, without undue interference from domestic political forces. Thus, to achieve optimal strategic outcomes, Turkish elites use emotive language around topics less likely to impact the immediate security, such as the USA and Israel, while deemphasizing higher order issues, such as Syria and Iran, which do have considerable security implications.

The clash of great powers and revolution in the Baltic Sea?

The Soviet party leadership claimed repeatedly after the mid-1920s that the Soviet Union was under an acute threat of intervention. The interpretation was based on different views regarding the development of socialism in the USSR. The role of Finland in the Soviet policy towards other border-states offers a case for observing the relation of ideology and practice in Soviet foreign policy, especially in the Baltic Sea context in 1925. The main interests for the Soviets were plans for military alliances and spheres of influence and intelligence. Contrary to the ideological worldview, the Peoples’ Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (NKID) did not see the western great powers, Great Britain and France, as being behind the Baltic alliance plan. Instead, the alliance attempt was primarily seen as an independent Polish initiative, especially lacking British support. The Soviet foreign administration was able to evaluate the grounds for eventual Finnish non-alliance accurately, despite Baltic sympathies and the lack of an active Scandinavian orientation. The results suggest the NKID observed international relations from the traditional viewpoint of Soviet state interests, and on the basis of quite accurate information, not reflecting the needs of ideological interpretation or domestic power struggles.

Regional powers and regional security governance: An interpretive perspective on the policies of Nigeria and Brazil

The study of regional powers has become an increasingly prominent part of debates in the academic field of International Relations (IR), particularly regarding their role in creating the conditions for international security. While the IR literature tends to focus on the causal effect of material and ideational factors to explain the policy of regional powers, this article uses an interpretive approach, centring on the study of historical representations. Through a comparative analysis of the foreign policies of Brazil and Nigeria since the 1990s, it argues that a focus on the traditions and dilemmas of regional powers enables a better explanation of their policy, one which illustrates how material factors are refracted through the representations of foreign policy elites in the two countries and expressed in their foreign policy practices as regional powers.

Interpreting foreign policy: National, comparative and regional studies

This Special Issue advances an interpretive research programme into Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and International Relations by showcasing new work on the study of foreign policy and regional cooperation. This introductory article explains the rationale and contents of the Special Issue in three parts. The opening part explains how the contributions complement the broader study of ideas in FPA and International Relations through a critique of methodological positivism in the social sciences. The second part elaborates the theoretical framework used to cohere the collection, which centres on the study of ‘situated agents’ who, when confronted with policy dilemmas, draw on inherited traditions to inform their foreign policy practices. This is accompanied by a methods case study centring on David Cameron’s European Union referendum strategy, which is used to illustrate the practical ways in which one can conduct interpretivist research into foreign policy. In conclusion, we spell out how the contributors conducted their work to advance the interpretivist research programme.

Interpreting change: International challenges and variations in foreign policy beliefs as explanations for shifts in China’s policy towards the European Union

This article examines why and how China upgraded its engagement with the European Union (EU) in the years between 2001 and 2004, with reference to pre-existing foreign policy traditions and practices in reform-era China. It argues that most of the observed changes can be explained with reference to two dynamics. First, the changing international environment, mostly with regard to the roles of the United States and the EU, challenged the established approach to foreign policy inherited from Deng Xiaoping, China’s pre-eminent leadership figure from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. In this sense, the shift towards the EU was part of wider efforts to solve this dilemma. Second, differences in how various groups in the Chinese foreign policy establishment understood and implemented Deng’s guidelines and their respective influence in policy-making can help to grasp some of the more specific developments in Chinese policy towards the EU in the early 2000s. To supplement this main claim, the article also critically evaluates the changes less well explained by these two dynamics and proposes additional explanations.

Constructing a ‘great’ role for Britain in an age of austerity: Interpreting coalition foreign policy, 2010–2015

This article interprets the ideational underpinnings of the British Conservative–Liberal coalition government’s foreign policy from 2010 to 2015. It uses qualitative discourse analysis of speeches, statements and policy documents to unpack the traditions of foreign policy thought which informed some of the key foreign policy practices of the coalition government. The analysis centres on the British identity constructed by liberal Conservatives, and the values and interests flowing from this baseline identity that the government’s foreign policy sought to express through its foreign policy. Liberal Conservative foreign policy is argued to have been an attempt to come to terms with the limits on Britain’s international agency in the face of three major foreign policy dilemmas: the legacy of the New Labour years, dramatically reduced economic resources in the ‘age of austerity’ and an increasingly restricted capacity for Britain to exercise ideational entrepreneurship in the international community. The article substantiates the claim in the extant literature that liberal Conservatism significantly adapted but did not restructure an established British foreign policy tradition of merging values and interests in complex ways.

The Influence of EU Norms on Foreign Policy Practice: The Case of EU-China Relations

This study examines the primary determinants of the European Union’s strategic engagement with China, with reference to three competing analytical approaches: institutional, social, and agency/stakeholder. The article examines the utility of each claim and outlines complementary variables amongst the three approaches, with the aid of recent evidence looking at the E.U.’s arms embargo on China, E.U.-China engagement in Africa, and the E.U.’s longstanding dispute on granting China market economy status. The study’s findings can reduce the misunderstandings and uncertainties embedded in European Union-China interactions, by demystifying the factors and variables that drive their relationship.

NOWOŻYTNA FILOZOFIA LIBERALIZMU, KONSERWATYZMU I MARKSIZMU W ASPEKCIE POLITYKI MIĘDZYNARODOWEJ I ZJAWISKA WOJNY

Artykuł jest próbą wyodrębnienia poszczególnych elementów filozofii nowożytnej, które, po pierwsze, odegrały istotny wpływ w uformowaniu fundamentów stosunkowo nowej nauki, jaką są stosunki międzynarodowe, a po drugie, w istotny sposób wpłynęły na politykę zagraniczną państw w okresie dwudziestolecia międzywojennego. Tekst składa się z czterech części, pierwsze trzy stanowią całościową syntezę istotnych elementów twórczości wybranych, najważniejszych myślicieli politycznych okresu od XVI do XIX wieku, których przemyślenia w istotny sposób uformowały teorię i praktykę dwudziestowiecznej polityki zagranicznej. Część czwarta stanowi syntetyczne podsumowanie najważniejszych tez poszczególnych myślicieli, które ma ukazać ewolucję wiedzy na ten temat. Ciekawym i wyróżniającym elementem pracy jest rozbudowany wstęp i zakończenie, których celem jest ukazanie twórczości filozoficzno-naukowej pierwszych myślicieli liberalizmu, konserwatyzmu i marksizmu w kontekście historii i filozofii politycznej, jak również w mniejszym stopniu filozofii nauki. Nieco odmienny charakter ma część trzecia, która odnosi się do rdzenia filozofii marksizmu. Pomijając filozofie boczne (choć być może właściwszym słowem jest słowo „uboczne” w negatywnym znaczeniu tego słowa) tego nurtu (np. leninizm, stalinizm), opisano w niej współczesną, wybraną neomarksistowską teorię struktury polityczno-ekonomicznej świata, celem zaprezentowania ciekawej, a zarazem naukowej modyfikacji teorii marksistowskiej, która, co ciekawsze, nie miała głębszego wyrazu międzynarodowego, ale istotnie wpłynęła na przebieg procesów międzynarodowych.

How India became territorial: foreign policy, diaspora, geopolitics

Why do countries go to war over disputed lands? Why do they fight even when the territories in question are economically and strategically worthless? Drawing on critical approaches to international relations, political geography, international law, and social history, and based on a close examination of the Indian experience during the twentieth century, Itty Abraham addresses these important questions and offers a new conceptualization of foreign policy as a state territorializing practice. Identifying the contested process of decolonization as the root of contemporary Asian inter-state territorial conflicts, he explores the political implications of establishing a fixed territorial homeland as a necessary starting point for both international recognition and national identity-concluding that disputed lands are important because of their intimate identification with the legitimacy of the postcolonial nation-state, rather than because of their potential for economic gains or their place in historic grievances. By treating Indian diaspora policy and geopolitical practice as exemplars of foreign policy behavior, Abraham demonstrates how their intersection offers an entirely new way of understanding India's vexed relations with Pakistan and China. This approach offers a new and productive way of thinking about foreign policy and inter-state conflicts over territory in Asia-one that is non-U.S. and non-European focused-that has a number of implications for regional security and for foreign policy practices in the contemporary postcolonial world.

KRITINIS POŽIŪRIS Į LIETUVOS UŽSIENIO POLITIKĄ: KAS PASIKEITĖ NUO AUGUSTINO VOLDEMARO LAIKŲ?

In the article, Lithuanian foreign policy is analysed as paying specific attention to the link between the national identity and foreign policy. According to the authors, this link could be the key in analysing the question, if in truth Lithuanian foreign policy has reached a particular point, which could be named as international isolation or at least a tendency towards it, and if yes, – then why? Critically, authors are discussing what has been done during the past five years in the field of Lithuanian foreign policy. It is suggested that Lithuania has abandoned the attitudes of the bridgehead and outpost, and the actions based on the conflict, nonap­pellant integrity and vain preaching. At the same time it is essential not to forget one of the most important condi­tions, thanks to which, for instance, membership in the Alliance became real, this is the principle of sound coexistence with neighbours which was mentioned on nu­merous occasions. Undoubtedly this rule is relevant in regard to EU membership. Whilst using the advantages of Euro-Atlantic structures, the faulty “bandwagoning” bait should be put away and try to move to the normal balancing in the boundaries of Lithuanian collective commitments. Briefly, Lithuania has to start being more self confident. First of all, in the Lithuanian foreign policy it would mean the implementa­tion of a rational syncretism for solving the problem of the national identification and the state geopolitical code compatibility. Corrections in domestic politics are needful as well. It should move to the demo­cratic “legalisation” of the existing Lithuanian political trends. This should help to defeat the especially vicious practice, when politicians are afraid of the charges of post soviet collaboration, particularly distinguished by the “actions against soviet heritage” campaigns, actually brought Lithuanian policy to the interest of foreign countries. That is exactly why it is worth coming back one more time to the so called lus­tration process, naming it more precisely the – soviet inheritance denial process. It is obvious, that the current spread of this process, its extent and forms are not ser-ving the Lithuanian political moral climate and national security, because during the current process two different subjects are confounded: the discloser of the foreign countries agents and internal political action. Of course the line between them could be vague sometimes, but it will exist if the struggle among various political orienta­tions will work out democratically, and the threat from the foreign agency will be differentiated. One way the agency is expressing its threat when the state is leading the confrontational foreign policy, and the other – when keeping the constructive international relationship. Herewith, it is noticed that it would be a big mistake to go to the extremes, even­tually even trying to reconsider the feasibility of EU and NATO membership. Euro-Atlantic institutions remain the major guarantee of stability in Europe, including Lithuania. Once again it is necessary to underline, that the change of foreign policy course in any case is risky. First of all because changing the foreign policy direction could inevitably change the power distribution structure, in which Lithuania exists. It could stimulate the particular retreat of the USA, the progressive dissociation of the Eu­ropean Union, and Russia would fill the emerged vacuum. It is likely, that Russia would interpret the changes in Lithuanian foreign policy as a sign of weakness and would strengthen the imperial pressure. Also, the assumption, that the USAwould express it’s discontentment in particular means: starting with financial and finishing with eventual secret destabilising actions, should not be eliminated. However, presumptive difficulties shouldn’t intimidate, raise pessimistic moods and lead to passivity. The refusal of the destructive orientation, it means zero sum­mation game as the specific practice in the state foreign policy, and shifting to the positive, “win-win” paradigm would mean the change of the orientation in the coop­eration partners selection – from various power action exponent to zero summation players. It is also necessary to keep in mind that previously discussed Lithuanian foreign policy faults considerably settled because of the inadequate reality signals sent by Lithuania about itself and about the real or assumed dangers.