Year : 2019, Volume : 23, Issue : 3
First page : ( 26) Last page : ( 43)
Print ISSN : 0971-8052. Online ISSN : 0974-0937. Published online : 2019  01.

Analysing foreign policy a theoretical perspective

Bindra Sukhwant S

Abstract

Foreign policy comprises of three levels—conception, content and implementation—all shaped by the more or less realistic vision of the outside world that national policymakers have and by the cost-benefit calculations of possible gains and affordable losses for the country they serve by pursuing certain goals and taking specific risks. The behaviour ofthe global community results at least in part from the interactions between the foreign policies of all states whose concrete goals and values are often hard to define as they are influenced by innumerable cultural, economic, geographical, historical, social and even (irrational) psychological factors. This article analyses the evolution of the domain of international affairs studies since the Second World War and explains why foreign policy has emerged as a distinct field of research within or even outside the broader framework of international relations and diplomatic science and practice.

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