Understanding IR and FP

Nature and Evolution of IR

An International Relations is the totality of all forms of
relations among peoples and groups in the world system.
International relation is the study of the international system,
which involves any form of interactions made b/n among
nations, international organizations, and multinational
corporations.
International relations are not merely a field of study at
university but is an integral aspect of our everyday lives. We
now live in a world where it is impossible to isolate our
experiences and transactions from an international dimension. In
its broad sense, the field of IRs comprises myriads/diverse
contacts among individuals, business organizations, cultural
institutions, and political personalities of various countries.
 Contd…
Participation in international relations or politics is also
inescapable. No individual, people, nation or state can exist in
splendid isolation or be master of its own fate; yet none, no
matter how powerful in military, diplomatic or economic
circles, even a giant superpower, can compel everyone to do
its bidding.
International politics is pre-eminently concerned with the
art of achieving group ends against the opposition of other
groups. But this is limited by the will and ability of other
groups to impose their demands. International politics
involves the delicate adjustment of power to power.
 The Nature and Evolution of IR
International relations to date have passed through three stages of
change that have emerged and evolved, intermittently from that of the
ancient times of kin, clan, tribe, community groups or city state, to the
medieval and the modern forms of state systems.
The rise of sovereign state in Medieval Europe consisted of a
complicated pattern of overlapping jurisdictions and loyalties.
After Medieval Age states simultaneously set themselves in opposition
to popes and emperors on the universal level, and to feudal lords,
peasants and assorted(fit into) other rulers on the local level. This time
was era of less development in international politics has lessened state’s
role and rather show dominance of church under which kings authority
were denuded. How state came to make itself independent and self-
governing was the process started in the Roman Period(Italian) where
northern city-states began playing the pope against the emperor,
eventually making themselves independent of both.
 Contd…
Furthermore, many of the relationships between states
and their interconnections shows patterns of
regularity and that those patterns may serve as the
basis of caution and tentative forecasts.
International relation became a discipline that has
its own methodology relevant to the study of
problems at the international level. Towards a
modern period it became a discipline to incorporate,
builds, and synthesizes insights discovered by most if
not all, of the social sciences.
 Contd…
The thirty Years’ War was often a religious conflict as
Catholics states confronted Protestants. The main
protagonists were two Catholic states, France and Austria,
but Sweden – a Protestant country – intervened on France’s
side and in the end no dominant power could emerged. The
Treaty of Westphalia, 1648, has concluded the 30 years of
warfare, that became a land mark and symbolized the new
way of organizing international politics.
International politics was a matter of relations between
states and no other political units. All sovereign states have
laid claims to the exclusive right to rule their own territories
and to act, in relation to other states, as they themselves saw
fit. All states were formally equal and they had the same
rights and obligations.(????)
 Contd…
After European states independence both from the pope and
the emperor, their relations became more complicated.
In order to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary
conflicts, different rulers began dispatching ambassadors to
each other’s courts. These diplomats provided a means of
gathering information, or spying, but also a way of keeping in
touch with one another, of carrying out negotiations and
concluding deals. The practices of diplomacy soon expanded
to include a number of mutually advantageous provisions: the
embassies were given extraterritorial rights and legal
immunity, diplomatic dispatches were regarded as inviolable
and ambassadors had the right to worship the god of their
choice.
 Actors in International Relations
State Actors: IR is traditional form of interactions b/n or among
:

states. IR captures a vast array of themes ranging from the growing

interconnectedness of people to old and new forms of security,
dialogue and conflict between visions, beliefs and ideologies, the
environment, space, the global economy, poverty and climate change.
All states have a territorial extension; and surrounded by borders where one
state ends and another begins. In fact, with the exception of Antarctica, there is
virtually no piece of land anywhere on earth’s surface is not claimed by one state
or another and there is no piece of land that belongs to more than one state.
Capacity of states ‘agency’ is as much as that of the UN or Amnesty
International, for each acts within a wider whole conceived in terms of the
international political economy or the international legal order.
 Contd…
Non-State Actors: Our everyday life experience is
influenced by global firms, international
governmental institutions, and non-governmental
organizations that necessitates the remit of our
investigations in order to account for the diversity of
actors and forms of inter-actions which take place in
global politics. Considered in terms of the dynamics
of change and how we provide explanations of change,
the question begins to shift attention back to an earlier
problematic, namely the capacity to make a difference.
 Contd…
Multinational Corporations(MNCs)- The traditional
conception of the state as the main framework of political
interaction and the main point of reference for both society
and the individuals within it has lost a lot of its meaning
and importance.
Often, MNCs have headquarters in one state and
operational capability in a range of others– contribute
significantly to international relations. There are also other
trans-governmental organizations where the relations
between players are not controlled by the central foreign
policy of the state – such as the exchange rate of a state’s
currency being determined by the money markets.
 Contd…
Majority of global interactions may be related to global
finance, production, education, personal and professional
travel, labour migration or terrorism–no longer occur via
state channels in the way they once did. The increased focus
on non-state actors and cross-border issues has marked a
close-to-revolutionary turn in IR; something that could be
interpreted as a shift away from the inter-national (between-
states) to the ‘trans-national’(across/beyond-states and their
borders). In today’s world, few societal and political issues,
challenges and problems are neatly confined by the borders
of individual states or even groups of states.
 Contd…
• Individuals and groups interact across borders and thus
relativize the meaning of space and territory as conventional
IR knew it. International commercial aviation and the rapid
spread of information technologies has further increased
people’s mobility and the rate at which interactions occur
across and beyond state borders. The ability for common
people to store, transfer and distribute large amounts of
information, the possibility for data to travel across the
world in no time. An increase in availability of high-speed
internet have not only changed lives at personal and
community levels but also dramatically altered the general
dynamics in politics and global affairs.
 Levels of Analysis
In the early days of IR, from 1919 to-the1945– a lot of what could be
called traditional or conventional IR was not concerned with any
potential distinctions between different levels of analysis or theoretical
perspectives. The level of analysis can prevent us from indulging in
analytical ‘cherry-picking’, that is a randomly gathering evidence
across different levels in pursuit of an answer to our research questions.
The Individual Level: International relations can be analysed from
the perspective of individuals. Here it focuses on the behaviours,
motivations, beliefs and orientations of the individual in affecting a
particular international phenomenon. If looking at the actions of
individuals, we would likely need to engage with the implications of
human nature. This can be seen in the psychology and emotions
behind people’s actions and decisions, their fears and their visions
as well as their access to information and capacity to make a
difference.
 Contd…
Psychological factors do not only matter at individual level in
society or of a group. They are also an important factor in the
analysis of foreign policy, whenever particular mind-sets and
perceptions of political leaders and key actors might influence
their decisions and behaviour.
For example, if one explains Germany’s decision to open its
borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees in 2015 you might
want to look at the external pressures as much as the personal
motivations of German chancellor Angela Merkel. You would
investigate factors at the system level (such as economic
indicators, refugee flows, the attitude of key partners) and at the
individual level (such as Merkel’s ideological background, her
interests and perceptions of the problem as it emerges from
statements and key decisions throughout her career). Each
 Contd…
The Group Level: A group level analysis would try and break the analysis
down into certain kinds of groups how they relate to the state level and where
they position themselves with respect to the global dimension of the issues
they are dealing with.
A group-level analysis focusing on foreign policy would look, for example, at
the role of lobbying groups and the way they influence national decision-
making on an issue. In this sense, a group-level analysis would be more
interested in the actions of groups of individuals, such as all voters of a
country and the way they express their views in the general election, political
parties picking up on the issue in their campaigns or social movements
forming to counter the effects of the crisis on society.
A group-level analysis could be interested in activist/pressure groups like
‘Anonymous’ that seek to influence the global debate about the winners and
losers of globalization and capitalism, and so forth.
 Contd…
• The State Level: The state level analysis is strongly related to an assumption of IR
scholars have made the state also the main location of power within the international
sphere. This idea that the state is where power is primarily concentrated and located
has to be seen against the historical context within which some of the most prominent
IR scholars operated. The Cold War was an era in which much of international affairs
appeared to be run via state channels and in line with particular state interests.
Although the Cold War has long since passed, a lot of today’s political life remains
managed in the state framework, based on issues like national security, domestic
cohesion or internal stability. States form the primary kind of actor in major
international organizations such as United Nations, they feature prominently in the
global discourse on most of the major challenges of our time, and states still hold
what famous German sociologist Max Weber called the monopoly on violence – the
exclusive right to the legitimate use of physical force.
 Contd…
A state-level study would also require careful consideration of
what kinds of states we are looking at (how they are ordered
politically), their geographical position, their historical ties
and experiences and their economic standing. It would also
refers to the foreign policy of states, meaning their approach to
and practice of interacting with other states. Key indicators of
the foreign policy of states would be the policies proposed and
decided by governments, statements of top-level politicians but
also the role and behaviour of diplomats and their adjoining
bureaucratic structures.
In this perspective, global circumstances are seen to condition
the ability and opportunity of individual states and groups
of states to pursue their interests in cooperative or
competitive ways.The view of states being embedded in a
 Contd…
The System Level: The system level perspective would like to
conceive the global system as the structure or context within
which states cooperate, compete and confront each other over
issues of national interest. System level analysis is a level above
the state(supra national) Particularly this is important that this
context is reflecting the distribution of power amongst states,
whether there is one main concentration of power (unipolarity),
of two main (bipolarity) or several (multi-polarity).
An anarchic system is one that lacks a central government (or
international sovereign) that regulates and controls what
happens to states in their dealings with each other.
 Contd…
• A system-level study considers global linkages that go
beyond single interactions between states. It would need to
look at such things as the balance of power between states
and how that determines what happens in global politics. This
could include developments that are even outside the
immediate control of any particular state or group of states,
such as the global economy, transnational terrorism or the
internet. A global level would give us the big picture and help
us to grasp wide ranging dynamics that emerge from the
global economic ‘system’ to affect its various components,
states, national economies, societies, and individuals.
 Contd…
The Structure of International System
Scholars of IR have maintained that political power is usually
distributed into some four main types of systems of : (i) uni-
polar system-early Empires (ii) bipolar system – an ideology
based division of East-West dichotomy and, (iii) multipolar
system- current world status of post bi-polar Cold-War system.
(iv) Polyalcohol System- is a modified multi-polar structure
where states are under increasing disintegrative pressure of
more macro (super-national levels) and micro (sub-national
levels) of political organizations. These four different systems
reflect the number of powerful states competing for power and
a hierarchical relationship. In a uni-polar international system,
there is one state with the greatest political, economic, cultural
and military power and hence the ability to totally control
others.
 Contd…
States in such systems are forced to balance each other’s power. In
the bipolar system, two dominant states (super powers) and the less
powerful states join either sides through alliance and counter alliance
formations. The problem of bipolar system is that it is vulnerable for
zero-sum game politics because when one superpower gains the other
would inevitably lose. A typical historical example when the world
was under bipolar system is the Cold War (1949-1989) period.
Multipolar system is the most common throughout history was
during the period of World War I was a typical world system. It
usually reflects various equally powerful states competing for power.
It is not necessary for states to change their relationship with zero-
sum game. In such system, it is possible to bring change without
gaining or losing power.
 Contd…
International system has some dimensions that manifest
itself against some factors. It includes (Power, Anarchy, and
Sovereignty).
Power can be defined in terms of both relations and material
(capability) aspects. The relational definition of power
understood as when ‘A’s’ ability is to get ‘B’ to do something
it would not otherwise do. To better consider this in historical
perspectives that United States and Soviet Union had
roughly balanced capabilities during the Cold War era. Even
though they can mutually destruct each other, these two world
powers were in a stalemate for the whole of the Cold War
period.
 Contd…
•Power international relations is the currency of international
politics, as money is for economics. In the international system,
power determines the relative influence of actors and shapes
the structure of the international system. That is often said that
international relations are essentially about actors’ power
relations in the supra-national domain. Hans Morgenthau, a
famous thinker of realist theory in IR, argues that International
politics, like all other politics, is a struggle for power. It thus
follows that power becomes the blood line of international
relations. Wherever capabilities are equal, power tends to
vanish totally. However, a small rise in the capabilities of one
of the two nations could translate into a major advantage in
terms of power balance.
 Contd…
Anarchy: Anarchy is a situation where there is absence of authority
(government) be it in national or international/global level systems. Within a
country ‘anarchy’ refers to a breakdown of law and order, but in relations
between states it refers to a system where power is decentralized and there
are no shared institutions with the right to enforce common rules.
An anarchical world is a world where everyone looks after themselves and
no one looks after the system as a whole. Instead, states had to rely on their
own resources or to form alliances through which the power of one alliance
of states could be balanced against the power of another alliance. Yet, it is
clear, that such power balances were precarious, easily subverted, and given
the value attached to territorial acquisitions, states had an incentive to
engage in aggressive wars. As a result, the new international system was
characterized by constant tensions and threats of war – which often enough
turned into actual cases of warfare.
 Contd…
• Sovereignty: Sovereignty is another basic concept
in international relations and it can be defined as an
expression of: (i) a state’s ultimate authority within
its territorial entity (internal sovereignty) and, (ii)
the state’s involvement in the international
community (external sovereignty). In short,
sovereignty denotes double claim of states from the
international system, i.e., autonomy in foreign policy
and independence/freedom in its domestic affairs.
 Contd…
Theories of International Relations
Theories of international relations allow us to understand
and try to sense the world around us through various lenses,
each of which represents a different theoretical perspective.
In order to consider the field as a whole, became necessary
to simplify theory of International Relations. This section
introduces the traditional theories, middle-ground theories
and critical theories of international relations.
The politics of global interactions is more accessible now in
the present age than it ever has been in the past.
 Contd…
Relationships which take place across state boundaries s
includes interactions involving not only the diplomatic core
or representatives of our individual states, but the business
community, the media, charitable organizations and so on.
IDEALISM/LIBERALISM: Liberalism in IR was referred
to as a ‘utopian’ theory and still recognized to some degree
today. Its proponents considers human beings as innately
good and believe peace and harmony between nations is not
only achievable, but a desirable. I. Kant has developed the
idea that states those shared liberal values should have no
reason for going to war against one another. In Kant’s eyes,
the more liberal states in the world, the more peaceful it would
become, because liberal states are ruled by their citizens and citizens
are rarely disposed to desire war.
 Contd…
Taking liberal ideas into practice, US President Woodrow Wilson’s
‘Fourteen Points’ towards the final year of the WWI has helped rebuilt
world beyond war, to create a general association of nations, which
resulted in League of Nations with the purpose of overseeing affairs
between states and implementing, and maintaining, international peace.
Liberalism as a discipline was dominated by what is conventionally
referred to as liberal internationalism. The driving force behind it was a
normative in orientation and the underlying assumption was that the
academic study of international relations had the potential to contribute
to the prevention of war and the establishment of peace.
This liberal theory contrasts the rule of kings and non-elected regimes
that have selfish desires out of step of citizens. Idealist ideas have
resonated and continue to be developed by modern times most notably
in the democratic peace theory, which posits that democracies do not
go to war with each other, for the very reasons Kant outlined.
 Contd…
Scott Burchill points out that liberal internationalism, has ‘the
prospects for the elimination of war lay with a preference for
democracy over aristocracy, free trade over autarky, and
collective security over the balance of power system’.
The two formative pillars of liberal internationalism,
democracy and free trade, required the establishment of
international relations which would promote collectivist
aspirations in place of the conflictual relations which formed
the basis of balance-of-power thinking. A system of ‘collective
security’ was advocated to replace antagonistic alliance
systems with an international order based on the rule of law
and collective responsibility. The domestic analogy of a social
contract was deemed to be transferable for the international
level.
 Contd…
The creation of the League of Nations at the end of the First
World War was the culmination of the liberal ideal of
international relations. The League would function as the
guarantor of international order and would be the organ
through which states could settle their differences through
arbitration. Any deviance from international law would be
dealt with collectively and commonly held interest for the
maintenance of peace and security.
Liberals argue that international law offers a mechanism by
which cooperation among states is made possible.
International law is a body of customary and conventional
rules which are binding on civilized states in their intercourse
with each other.
 Contd…
•Liberals consider states as subjects of international law and in
principle obliged to implement the decisions of international
tribunals or courts. Essentially, international law provides the
normative framework for political discourse among members of the
international system. In this view, international law performs two
different functions. One is to provide mechanisms for cross-border
interactions, and to shape the values and goals these interactions
pursue. The first set of functions are called the ‘‘operating system’’ of
international law, and the second set of functions are the ‘‘normative
system.” The purpose of international law is to regulate the conducts
of governments and the behaviours of individuals within states. For
instance, International human rights law provides a normative
system for regulating states’ behaviour in their treatment of human
rights within or outside their jurisdiction.
 Contd…
• However, the legal standing of international law is a
contentious issue among scholars. As a result, the
operating system of international law functions in
some ways as a constitution does in a domestic legal
system and not as law proper. IL does nothing
beyond setting out the consensus of its constituent
actors on distribution of authority, rights and
responsibilities for governance within the
international system.
 Contd…
REALISM a traditional 'science’ of international relations, was
a move away from utopian doctrine of wishful thinking of
liberal internationalism. By presenting the fact–value
distinction, that which separates the ‘what is’ from the ‘what
ought to be’, in dichotomous or oppositional terms of power and
its impact on international politics. The formative assumptions
of realism as a school of thought centre on the view that the
international system is ‘anarchic’, and devoid of an all-
encompassing authority. As liberal internationalism sought
foundations in the Enlightenment and the birth of reason so
realism locates its roots further back, citing Thucydides,
Machiavelli and Hobbes as its founding voices.
 Contd…
Thucydides and his account of the Peloponnesian War is
formative and it covers themes such as power, intrigue,
conquest, alliance-building and the intricacies of bargaining.
Thucydides asserts that ‘realism assumes key concept of
interest defined as power is an objective category which is
universally valid, but does not fixed once and for all.’
Realists assume that objective laws have universal
applicability, and ‘international politics, like all politics,
and ‘struggle for power’. Orientation and expressions made
by Morgenthau purports that realism has to be scientific and
explanatory/ descriptive over that of the idealists
prescriptive approaches.
 Contd…
• Thomas Hobbes mentioned in his discussions of realism
has description of the brutality of life during the English
Civil War. Hobbes described human beings as living in an
order-less ‘state of nature’ perceived as a war of all
against all. Morgenthau’s realism concentrates on the
attributes and behaviour of states within the international
system, Waltz focuses on the international system itself and
seeks to provide a structuralisms account of its dynamics
and the constraints it imposes on state behaviour. The
international system is, for Waltz, anarchical and hence
perpetually threatening and conflictual.
 Contd…
One central area that sets realism and liberalism apart is how
they view human nature.
Realists are pessimists who do not believe that human beings
are inherently good, or have the potential for good, as
liberals/idealists do. Instead, they claim individuals act in their
own self-interests, egoist, selfish and behave according to their
own needs without necessarily taking into account the needs of
others. Realists believe conflict is unavoidable and perpetual
and so war is common and inherent to humankind. Hans
Morgenthau, a prominent realist, states that, 'all politics is a
struggle for power.’ This demonstrates the typical realist view
that politics is primarily about domination as opposed to
cooperation between states.
 Structuralism/Marxism
MARXISM is an ideology that argues that a capitalist society
is divided into two contradictory classes – the business class
(the bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat). The
proletariats are at the mercy of the bourgeoisie who control
their wages and therefore their standard of living. Marx hoped
for an eventual end to the class society and overthrow of the
bourgeoisie by the proletariat. Decolonization, withdrawal of
the US from Vietnam and the rise of a Third World alliance
which made itself felt primarily at the United Nations, global
relations came to encompass matters which seemed far
removed from the Cold War rhetoric which underpinned
relations between East and West.
 Contd…
• The third perspective or paradigm has emerged as a
critique of both realism and idealism concentrated on
the inequalities that exist within the international
system, of wealth between the rich ‘North’ or the ‘First
World’ and the poor ‘South’ or the ‘Third World’.
Inspired by the writings of Marx and Lenin, scholars
view known as the structuralism paradigm focused on
dependency, exploitation and the international division
of labour which relegated the vast majority of the global
population to the extremes of poverty, often with the
complicities of elite groups within these societies.
 Contd…
• The class system that predominated internally the
capitalist societies had its parallel globally, producing
centre–periphery relations that has permeated/spread in
every aspect of international social, economic and
political life. Thus, where pluralism and its liberal
associations had viewed networks of economic
interdependence as a basis of increasing international
cooperation founded on trade and financial interactions,
neo-Marxist structuralism viewed these processes as the
basis of inequality, the debt burden, violence and
instability.
 Contd…
Constructivism: is another theory commonly viewed
as a middle ground, but this at time it is between
mainstream theories and the critical theories. Unlike
scholars from other perspectives, constructivists highlight
the importance of values and shared interests between
individuals who interact on the global stage. The core of
constructivism, is that the essence of international
relations exists in the interactions between people. After
all, states do not interact; it is agents of those states, such
as politicians and diplomats, who interact.
 Contd…
Critical Theories : Critical approaches refer to a wide
spectrum of theories that have been established in response to
mainstream approaches in the field, mainly liberalism and
realism. In a nutshell, critical theorists share one particular trait –
they oppose commonly held assumptions in the field of IR that
have been central since its establishment. Thus, altered
circumstances call for new approaches that are better suited to
understand, as well as question, the world we find ourselves in.
Critical theories are valuable because they identify positions that
have typically been ignored or overlooked within IR., altered
circumstances call for new approaches that are better suited to
understand, as well as question, the world we find ourselves in.
 Contd…
Critical theorists who take a Marxist angle often
argue that the internationalization of the state as the
standard operating principle of international relations.
This theory led as ordinary people around the globe
becoming divided and alienated, instead of
recognizing what they all have in common as a global
proletariat. For this to change, the legitimacy of the
state must be questioned and ultimately dissolved. In
that sense, emancipation from the state in some form
is often part of the wider critical agenda.
 Contd…
• Post-colonialism differs from Marxism by focusing on the
inequality between nations or regions, as opposed to classes.
The effects of colonialism are still felt in many regions of the
world today as local populations continue to deal with the
challenges created and left behind by the former colonial
powers. Post-colonialism’s origins can be traced to the Cold
War period when much activity in international relations
centred around decolonization and the ambition to undo the
legacies of European imperialism. This approach
acknowledges that politics is not limited to one area or region
and that it is vital to include the voices of individuals from
other parts of the world.
 Contd…
• Post-modernism is an ‘Orientalist’ critique, describing how
the Middle East and Asia were inaccurately depicted in the
West. As a result, more focus within the discipline was placed
on including the viewpoints of those from the Global South to
ensure that Western scholars no longer spoke on their behalf.
This created a deeper understanding of the political and social
challenges faced by people living within these regions as well
as an acknowledgement of how their issues could be better
addressed. Postcolonial scholars are, therefore, important
contributors to the field as they widen the focus of enquiry
beyond IR’s traditionally ‘Western’ mind-set.
 Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
Foreign policy of a state is the actions, decisions and goals that
states pursue towards the outside world. States’ foreign policy is to
achieve and promote their national interests often defined as short
term, medium term and long term goals. It is shaped by both internal
and external/systemic factors. Internally, the economic,
technological and military capabilities of states that affect their
foreign policy. Externally, International regimes, international
organizations, the prevalence of great powers at international level
are some of systemic factors that impinges/influence/interfere on the
foreign policy of a state. On top of these, the idiosyncrasy of leaders
contributes much in affecting the foreign policy making and
implementation of the country’s FP objectives. States establish
diplomatic relations and contacts and use different tactics to protect,
often to maximize, their national interest.
 Contd…
Defining Foreign Policy
Foreign policy is general purposes and specific strategies
that state employs to achieve or promote its national interest.
Foreign policy then refers to “the set of priorities and percepts
established by national leaders to serve as guidelines for
choosing among various courses of action in specific situations
in international affairs.”
All states would like to promote their national interest as their
capability or power allows them to do. Morgenthau suggests that
the minimum goal a state would like to achieve is survival.
Every state should protect their physical, political, and cultural
identities against any encroachment by other states.
 Contd…
• Foreign policy and diplomacy-foreign policy of a state is the expression
of its national interest vis-a vis other states – it is a well rounded
comprehensive plan based on knowledge and experience for conducting
the business of the government with the rest of the world.
• Foreign policy is a planned course of action developed by the decision
makers of a state vis-à-vis other states or international entities aimed at
achieving specific goals defined in terms of national interest. A specific
foreign policy carried out by a state may be the result of an initiative by
that state or may be a reaction to initiatives undertaken by other states.
Foreign policy involves a dynamic process of applying relatively fixed
interpretation of national interest to the highly fluctuating situational
factors of the international environment to develop a course of action,
followed by efforts to achieve diplomatic implementation of the policy
guidelines.
 Contd…
Defining National Interest
National interest is the raison de`tat, (the reason of state), to
justify its actions and policy towards other states at international
level. National interest refers to set of values, orientation, goals
and objectives of a given country would like to achieve in its
international relations. It has been the main driving force that
determines the contents of foreign policy.
Holsti, a prolific writer has defined national interest as “an image
of the future state of affairs and future set of conditions that
governments through individual policy makers aspire to bring
about by wielding influence abroad and by changing or
sustaining the behaviors of other states.”
 Contd….
• Power is a capacity or ability to influence action or
behaviors of others for own cause or truth underscored
as the primary instrument to implement national
interest. It is a means that states employ to realize
their future ambitions. Problems of identifying
national interest, foreign policy decision is not
necessarily a clear-cut and rational process. Policies are
often generated through great internal political and
bureaucratic debates. Multiple conflicting criteria
compete for priority in the minds of the decision maker
as they shape the contents of national interest.
 Contd…
Foreign Policy and its Behaviors
The objectives of foreign policy of a state is /are to
achieve in one way or another the national interest. So,
national interest is often considered as the objectives of
foreign policy of a state. Objectives of foreign policy can
be classified as long range, middle range and short range.
The scope and content of foreign policy of a state is often
determined by the capabilities of the concerned state.
Capabilities of states vary across the board, the foreign
policy orientation, percepts, visions as well as the
instruments varies as well.
 Contd…
• Foreign policy task is to defend national interest peacefully, restrictively
and rationally. Foreign policy of all nations refers to their survival and self-
preservation as their minimum requirement (should protect its sovereignty
and territorial integrity as well as their citizens security within without ).
• The political leadership of a country’s executive or the political structure
at the apex political system may decide a pure foreign policy matter.
• It is aimed at promoting and protecting the interest of the nation. There are
intimate connections between foreign policy, diplomacy, and have definite
distinctions than identical. J.R. Charles explains them as the foreign policy
of a state is ‘the substance of foreign relations; whereas diplomacy
proper is ‘the process by which policy is carried out’. In other words, the
purpose of diplomacy is to provide the machinery and the personnel by
which foreign policy is executed
 Contd…
Translated into more specific objectives, the preservation of
physical identity is equated with the maintenance of the
territorial integrity of a state. Preservation of political
identity is equated with the existence of politico-economic
systems. And the preservation of cultural identity is
equated with ethnic, religious, and linguistic and historical
norms of the peoples residing in the state.
Foreign policy also involves specific instruments and tactics
that must be employed to realize those objectives and goals.
The most widely employed instruments include, diplomatic
bargaining, economic instruments, propaganda, terrorism
(sabotage), and use of force (war).
 Contd…
In diplomacy, states attempt to affect the behavior of
others through bargaining that involves less element
of power as compared to other instruments. Yet states
may manipulate carrot -and - stick methods such as
reward or threats so as to induce agreement whenever
there appears to be incompatible goals and objectives.
Security and survival of a state, has always been
considered as the first priority, among various foreign
policy objectives, which a state aspires to achieve in
the short run.
 Classifying objectives of FP
(1) Short range or core values and interests, to which states
commit their very existence and that must be preserved or
extended at all time;
(2) Middle range goals, which normally impose demands on
several others states (commitments to their achievement
are serious and time limit is also attached to them); and
(3) Long range universal goals-which seldom have definite
time limits. In practice leaders rarely place the highest
value on long range goals and it’s very much dependent on
the capability and ideology of the state.
 Core Interests and Values (Short Range)
Core values(short range) interests can be described as those
goals which most people are willing to make ultimate sacrifices
for. Core Values are basic principles of foreign policy and
become article of faith that society accepts without any
questioning it.
So, core interests are sacrosanct/inviolable by entire peoples
residing in the state. Core interests and values are most
frequently related to the self preservation of political and
economic systems, which includes culture, and territorial
integrity of a state. These short-range objectives are goals that
cannot be realized without existence of the state and its political
units been ensured.
 Contd…
•The exact core value or interest in any given country depends on the
attitudes of foreign policy makers. Some governments place great
values on controlling or defending neighboring territories, as they
contain assets like: man power and other resources that can increase
the capabilities(Economic resource:GOIBA)
•Such intentions can be major threat for their territorial integrity
might materialize through adjacent countries and then conquering the
part or whole of neighboring countries might be considered as the
core interests of states(eg.Iraq vs Iran,Iraq vs Kuweit, Israel vs
Palestine..).
• These have been the underlying reason behind colonialism-a belief
that direct acquisition of foreign soil and people will help to bolster
the capability and economic needs-national interest- of the colonial
power.
 Contd…
•To this date countries like Israel and the USA pursue such
policies of extra-territoriality. Extraterritoriality is whenever
claims of a country as national interest is projected beyond the
limits of its geographic boundary. Israel, had a major objective
of expanding its territories at the expense of Arab states, by
actions of wars been demonstrated its intentions. Israel always
considered those areas and territories it had conquered through
its successive military success as strategically favorable
frontiers to be a core value related to national survival.
•The most essential objective of any foreign policy, core
interests and values, is to ensure the sovereignty and
independence of the home territory and to perpetuate a
particular political, social, and economic systems based on
that territory.
 Contd…
Middle Range Objectives
Middle range objectives drastically varies across states.
These variation is due to the difference in the level of
economic and technological progress, as well as the
military capability, of states. Yet a state would like to
achieve in its medium term is to take a course of actions
that have the highest impact on the domestic economic and
welfare needs and expectation.
Social welfare and economic development, ca not be
achieved through self-help, as most states have only limited
resources, administrative services, and technical skills.
 Contd…
Great demands that people have placed on governments to
provide them jobs, income, recreation, medical services, and
general security. Governments increasingly have to develop
policies to satisfy expectations of face political defeat. The
primary commitment of governments is to pursue those course of
action that have the highest impact on domestic economic and
welfare needs of its people.
Long- Range Objectives tends universal range goals are those
plans, dreams, and visions concerning the ultimate political or
ideological organization of the international system. Universal
ranges rules the governing relations that benefits more the
incumbent system.
 Contd…
• States make particular demands against particular interest;
in pursuing long range goals, states normally make
universal demands, for their purpose is no less than to
reconstruct an entire international system according to a
universally applicable plan or vision.
• Such long range visions and dreams may have
international repercussions as far as they are
complemented by the capabilities and powers;
otherwise the long range visions will not have any
international significance beyond paper consumption and
rhetoric level.
 Contd…
F. Policy Behaviors: Patterns and Trends
Foreign policy behavior refers to the actions states take
towards each other, and these actions usually are not as
ends in themselves, but are tied in some way with larger
purposes, from long range objectives to short term
objectives that leaders hope to achieve in their dealings
with other countries. The nature of foreign policy is such
that one can expect to find double standards and
inconsistencies in the records of all countries. It is not
easy to label countries as simply peace loving or war-like
or to use other such categorizations.
 Contd…
Specialist in the field of IR, indicated that all foreign policy
behavior ultimately boils down to three possible patterns: (1)
self-preservation (maintaining the status quo); (2) self-
extension (revising the status quo in one’s own favor); (3) self-
abnegation/renounce or reject (revising the status quo in
someone else’s favor).
• Foreign Policy Dimensions
The analysis of foreign policy behavior can be done along
different styles of leaderships and circumstances. These
dimensions include alignment, scope, and modus operandi. A
brief discussion of specific foreign policy behaviors in light of
these dimensions would be illustrative.
 Contd…
I.Alignment
One can first speak of alignment tendencies, in particular whether
national leaders choose to ally with certain countries or to remain
neutral. A country’s alignment behavior can vary from time to time
during its history in response to changing circumstances and policy
decisions. Yet one can identify the alignment tendencies such as
alliance, neutrality and non-alignment.
1.1 Alliances are formal agreements to provide mutual military
assistance; as such, they carry legal weight and certain benefits as well
as risks. Allied countries can pool their military resources, acquire
access to foreign bases and stake out territories that enemies are on
notice will be denied them by force if necessary. Yet an alliance state
also risks interference by allies in its domestic affairs, the possibility
being dragged..
 Contd…
1.2 Neutrality is a stance of formal non partisanship in world
affairs. By keeping a low profile, neutrals may avoid some of the
problems associated with alliances, particularly the generating of
potential enemies and counter alliances. Switzerland is one
country that has carried neutrality to an extreme case in refusing
membership to United Nations till 2002.
1.3 Nonalignment has been the foreign policy pattern of most
developing state during cold war. Most developing countries had a
movement-Non Alignment Movement (NAM the 1955-Bandung
Conference) in which they called for a new foreign policy
path/choice/ to be followed disregarding the both the West and
East bloc politics and alliances. NAM had noble agenda that
called for the South-south cooperation.
 Contd…
II. Scope
A second foreign policy dimension is the scope of a
country’s activities and interests. Some countries have
extensive, far-reaching international contacts, while other
countries have more limited activities abroad. A country’s
scope of contact can affect the outcome of disputes and
crises. With regards to the scope of activities a state has in
international relations, one can identify at least three
patterns of foreign policy behaviors. Some actors act in
Global terms, others as Regional terms, and those that
follow policy of Isolationism.
 Contd…
III. Mode of Operation/ “Modus Opernadi’
Dimensions of a country’s patterns of foreign policy behaviors, can be
identified on the basis of the modus operandi-the method of operation.
Some countries often rely on multilateral institutions to address
different issues , while others very much rely on unilateral means
Instruments of Foreign Policy
Diplomacy has existed as long as civilization has been thought. It is a
system of structured communication between two or more parties.
Such regular contacts via envoys travelling between neighboring
civilizations date back at least 2500 years. They lacked many of the
characteristics and commonalities of modern diplomacy such as
embassies, international law and professional diplomatic services.
 Contd…
•Diplomacy as a process b/n actors (diplomats who represents
their state) exist within a system (international relations) and
engage in private and public dialogue (diplomacy) to pursue
their objectives in a peaceful manner.
Diplomacy is not foreign policy, but part of process of
foreign policy and its practices. When a nation-state makes
foreign policy, it dose for its national interests.
Basically, state’s foreign policy has two key ingredients; its
actions and strategies to achieve its goals. Interaction of state
with another is considered an act of its foreign policy. To act
without diplomacy would limit a state’s foreign policy actions
to conflict (usually war, via economic sanctions or espionage).
In that sense, diplomacy is an essential tool required to operate
successfully in today’s international system.
 Contd…
Diplomacy is a complex game of maneuver in which the goal
is to influence the behaviors of others in ones interest. In the
past diplomacy had been practiced in formalistic and somewhat
rigid manner that was limited to the bilateral relations of
countries as being represented through the ambassadors hosted
in foreign soil.
•Rules of Effective Diplomacy: basic rules that diplomats have
employed with greater effectiveness over the years:
A) Be realistic: It is important to have goals that much your
ability to achieve them (feasibility)
B) Be careful about what you say: Experienced diplomats
plans out and weighs words carefully
 Contd…
C) Seek common ground: Dispute begins negotiations; finds
common ground ends them successfully. Almost any negotiation will
involve some concession, so it is important to maintain a degree of
flexibility.
D) Understand the other side: There are several aspects to
understanding the other side. One is to appreciate an opponent’s
perspective even if you do not agree with it.
E) Be patient: it is also important to bide your time. Being overly
anxious can lead to concessions that are unwise and may convey
weakness to an opponent.
F) Leave avenues of retreat open: it is axiomatic that even a rat will
fight if trapped in a corner. The same is often true for countries. Call
it honor, saving face, or prestige; it is important to leave yourself and
your opponent an “out”.
 Contd…
Economic Instruments of Foreign Policy
Just as modern states are politically and
technologically interdependent, so do they rely up
on each other for resources and commodities that
enable them to develop and sustain viable
economies. There hardly exists a state that is self
sufficient. There is a considerable degree of
dependence and interdependence up on trade varies
across states. Some states are strong and capable as
compared to other states.
 Contd…
Economic instruments can be used to achieve the foreign
policy objective of a state. States may reward or punish states
through the manipulation of economic policies. Some of such
economic instruments are: tariffs, quotas, boycotts, embargos, and
aid.
Economic, especially, trade instruments of foreign policy are
normally used for three purposes, of: (1) to achieve any foreign
policy objective by exploiting need and dependence and offering
economic rewards, or threat, ending or imposing economic
punishments; (2) to increase a state’s capability or deprive a
potential enemy’s capabilities,and (3) to create economic
satellites (guaranteed markets and resources of supply) or help
maintain political obedience in satellites by creating a
relationship of economic dependence.
•
Overview of FP of Ethiopia: (since-date)

Tewodros(1855-68) has partially succeeded to

unite Ethiopia. Yet he introduced the idea of
modern army at the time. Tewodros reign tried to
develop a dynamic foreign policy that reached out
beyond the Horn Region. He sought the Western
Christian world to recognize his country and help
him to modernize his country. As Keller has put it
“he appealed specifically to Britain, France and
Russia as Christian nations to assist him in
whatever ways possible in his fight against the
Turks, Egyptians and Islam”.
 Contd…
Foreign Policy of Yohannes IV (1872-1889)
Yohannes considered Islam as a threat to the territorial
integrity of the polity. Indeed Egypt tried to put a serious
security threat in its continued attempt to invade the
country under many pretexts, yet its motive was to
control the source of Blue Nile.
In addition to Muslim threat, the emperor saw European
expansionism as greater threat to the survival of the
country. In fact his calculation of threat has turned out to
be real as Italy got a foot hold at the port of Massawa in
1885.
 Contd…
Foreign Policy of Menelik II (1889-93)
After death of Yohannes, Menelik II has assumed to the
throne as King of Shoa region before his coronation as the
Kings of Kings of Ethiopia. He had expanded his sphere of
influence towards the far South and East incorporating new
areas and communities controversially in a peaceful way.
Before the death of Yohannes Italy had good diplomatic
relation with Menelik with the objective of weakening its
immediate enemy in the North, Yohannes. Menilik
comfortably exploited the opportunity to consolidate his
power, perhaps to deter Yohannes and bolster its
expansionist policy to the south.
 Contd…
Menelik was cautiously followed colonial expansionism of
Italy. The emperor followed double track diplomacy to contain
or reverse Italy’s expansion and maintain the territorial
integrity of his country. On the one hand, he entered many
treaties and agreements to solve the challenge amicably.
The emperor’s diplomatic endeavor with Italy failed to result
in peace due to Italy’s misinterpretation of the controversial
‘article 17’ of the ‘Wuchalle’ treaty. In 1896, the emperor
declared nation-wide war against Italy in defense of the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of the century old nation.
With the battle of Adwa Ethiopian forces made victory over
a powerful European colonial power.
 Contd…
•The significance of the Adowa victory is loud and clear as many
European powers recognized Ethiopia as an independent African
state on similar footing with the Europeans. Indeed Britain,
France, Russia and the vanquished Italy came to Menelik’s Palace
to arrange formal exchange of Ambassadors. Moreover, these
powers signed formal boundary treaties with the emperor.
• The present boundary of Ethiopia vis -a-vis its neighbors had

been defined at least on paper. With the exception of Sudan and of

course present day Eritrea (being ex-colony of Italy) the boundary
of the country with French Somaliland-Djibouti, Kenya (former
British colony), and present Somali (Italian Somaliland and
British Somaliland) had been defined on paper, yet were not
demarcated.
 Contd…
Foreign Policy of Haile Selassie I (1916-1974)
Diplomatically, HS was able to regain complete
administrative control over the territory he
claimed and more by 1954. In 1952 a U.N.
resolution had made possible a federation
between Ethiopia and the former Italian colony of
Eritrea. Eritrea was to have regional autonomy
within the federation, Haile Selassie was not
content but with only administrative control.
 Contd…
• Ethiopia also played significant role in Africa standing for
independence to end colonialism and apartheid. In the United
Nations, Ethiopia played raising agendas and pressing for resolutions
against colonialism in collaboration with some countries support the
cause. In this manner, the emperor was considered as one of the
founding fathers of African Unification. The establishment of the
organization of African Unity in the capital of Ethiopia witnessed the
prominent role of the emperor in African affairs as well. There was a
time when the emperor resolved the perennial conflict in Sudan
through His Good Offices. Ethiopia also played a significant role in
maintaining international peace and security by commit ting its troops
for peacekeeping operations in Korea in 1951 and the Congo in
1961.
 Contd…
• Foreign Policy during PMAC (1974—1991)
The PMAC that took control of state power in 1974
adopted a foreign policy largely oriented to socialist
ideology. The primary objectives of the foreign policy
were survival of the regime and maintaining the
territorial integrity of the country. Apart from these,
restructuring the society along socialist lines was also a
foundation for the foreign policy motives at home. The
major strategy to achieve the stated objectives heavily
focused on building the military capability of the country
 Contd…
• Socialism was the guiding philosophy of the country,
friendship and alliance with socialist countries of the
world was considered as a viable strategy for realizing
socialism at home and perhaps in the world. However,
since the regime did not have the necessary economic and
military capabilities to achieve its objectives, the country
was very much dependent on economic and military aid
on the others. The corner stone of Ethiopia’s foreign
policy at the time was maintaining continuing friendship
with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
 Contd…
With regard to Africa’s broader issues of decolonization and anti-
Apartheid struggle, Ethiopia played significant role. The regime had
extended its military and technical support to Freedom fighters in
Angola and Rhodesia. The regime had also showed its solidarity to
Palestine’s cause by condemning Israel and sought political
allegiance with the Arab world, however the negative perception that
most Arab countries have towards Ethiopia remained unchanged.
In general the adoption of socialism and its subsequent impact on
the foreign policy of the country could be considered as a
departure from its predecessors; however the policy objective of
the country remained unchanged. The country’s policy towards
its neighbors, the region, and the Arab world remained
unchanged.
 Contd…
Such continuity of in the era of dynamic world teaches us the
determining role of geography in the making and implementation
of foreign policy of Ethiopia. The issue of Nile River, boundary
issues, the strategic location of the country, unique culture
(Christianity) amid the Islam religion and Arab culture had
cumulative effect in shaping the foreign policy the country
• The Foreign Policy of Ethiopia in the Post 1991
• EPRDF adopted a new foreign policy orientation and
objectives. Post 1991 Ethiopia’s foreign policy is driven
primarily by the quest to ensure national interest and security
to ensure the survival of the multi- national state
• National interest of the country is understood in terms of
realizing the real interest of the people mainly democracy
and development. It refers to the primary interest of the
people to live freely from poverty, disease and ignorance.
In this regard, foreign policy has been considered as an
instrument to solve the domestic problems of the country,
including; lack of good governance, instability and lack
of economic development. If the equality and democratic
rights of nations, nationalities, peoples and individuals
are not realized, then conflicts can happen leading to
instability and eventual disintegration.
• The primary strategy in realization of these goals is to put the focus
on domestic issues first. Addressing domestic political and
economic problems requires forging national consensus about
the problems and exit strategies from the problem. Especially,
emphasizing on globalization and external issues such as; seeking
financial aid, loans or technical issues would subject the country
to dependency and vulnerability. The diplomatic leverage of the
country will neglect the crux of the matter at home, viz., the issue
of democratization and good governance and issues of
development would not be addressed. This strategy is called an
“inside-out” approach, Solving domestic problems that would not
be vulnerable and its peace and survival can be ensured.
• At diplomatic level, economic diplomacy is adopted to strengthen the
domestic efforts in fighting poverty and backwardness and address the
issues of development. Economic diplomacy involves attracting foreign
investments, seeking markets for Ethiopian exportable commodities,
seeking aid and confessional loans too. Economic diplomacy has also
been considered as viable strategy under the age of globalization.
• The other foreign policy strategy is building up the military
capability of the country. Peaceful dialogues and negotiations will be
employed to peacefully coexist with others. Diplomatic solutions can
always be taken prior attention when dealing even disputes. But above all
building up military capability would have a deterrence effect. Countries
may no venture to pose a threat on the country if the military capability
of the country is scale up and modernized.
• Looking at the patterns of the country’s foreign policies over the
years, there have been changes and continuities in the foreign
policy goals and tactics adopted by different governments of
Ethiopia. Though strategies may sometimes differ the primary
foreign policy objective of all the three regimes remained the
maintenance of the territorial integrity and independence of the
country. To this end the three regimes used a combination of
both military force and diplomacy to address both internal and
external challenges depending on the circumstances. In this
manner, while the imperial and the military regime’s foreign
policy strategy is largely an approach the current regime
followed “in-side out” approach.
Summary
• Diplomacy in the modern era, an era sometimes called the ‘long peace due to
the absence of major war since 1945, has deepened and widened in complexity.
Nowadays, it would be ill advised to base a description of diplomacy on actions
short of, or in response to, war between states.
• Diplomacy today is integral to ensuring that our period of long peace gets
longer and that the world we live in is as conducive as possible to the progress of
the individual, as well as the state. As today’s world is more linked and
interdependent than ever before, effective and skilful diplomacy is vital to ensure
that humankind can navigate an ever-growing list of shared challenges such as
climate change, pandemics, transnational terrorism and nuclear proliferation that
may be our undoing if left unresolved. So, while you may not know the names of
many of those engaged in diplomatic endeavors, nor see much of their hard work
credited in the media, their work is more important than ever to all of us.
 Secretariat

Trusteeship General
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UN
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ECOSOC