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CHAPTER TWO

FOREIGN POLICY AND

DIPLOMACY

BY: YIRGA ABEBE

 What is Foreign Policy (FP)?
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 FP of a state is the actions, decisions and goals that

states pursue towards the outside world.
 It is shaped by both external/systemic factors

(international regimes, organizations, prevalence of

great powers at international level) and internal
factors (the economic, technological and military
capabilities of states, idiosyncrasy of leaders).
 The deriving motive behind foreign policy is the

pursuit of national interest.

 Defining National Interest
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 It is the raison de`tat, (the reason of state), to justify its

actions and policy towards others in IS.
 It refers to set of values, orientation, goals and objectives
a given country would like to achieve in its international
relations.
 A multiplicity of criteria used in defining national
interest including;
 Operational philosophy: style of operation whether it is
synoptic/incremental approach
 Moral and legal criteria: standing up for moral
principles, and abiding by the rules of international law
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 Pragmatic criteria: a matter of fact, not on emotions and professions,

and rationality based on scientific analysis of cost and benefit
 Ideological criteria: ideological orientation of a regime in power-
communism/capitalism
 Professional advancement: consideration of professional survival
and growth (personal success)-conformity to popular pressure or
strong elites.
 Partisan criteria: the survival and the success of your political party,
organization, or ethnic or religious origin with the survival and
success of your country.
 Foreign –dependency criteria: dependent on ex-colonial states for
technical aid, expertise and technology, sometimes even for their
security.
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 There are controversies by realist and idealist interpretations

of national interest.
 Realist international scholars reject the ideological, legal
and moral criteria to define and shape the contents of
national interest, it advised leaders to prioritize pragmatic
criteria
 Idealists have strong belief in the relevance of legal,
ideological and moral elements as the constituting elements
of national interest.
 Realists exclusively emphasis on to state and national interest,
whereas Idealists believe on global solutions than local
(national) solutions:
 Understanding Foreign Policy and Foreign
Policy Behaviors
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 Foreign policy refers to the sets of objectives and

instruments that a state adopts to guide its
relation with the outside world.
 The objective of foreign policy which a state wants to
achieve is national interest.
 It involves the general purposes and specific strategies a
state employs to achieve or promote its national interest.
 Morgenthau suggests that the minimum goal a state
would like to achieve is survival-protect physical,
political, and cultural identities.
 Foreign Policy Objectives
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 The foreign policy objectives of states can be categorized into

three: short range, middle ranges and long range objectives.
 It is based on the value, the time element and the kind of
demands on other states in international system.
 Short Range Objectives-Core Interests and Values ensure the
sovereignty and independence of the home territory and to
perpetuate a particular political, social, and economic system
 Middle Range Objectives- varies across states, social welfare
and economic development, requires interdependence
 Long- Range Objectives -are those plans, dreams, and visions
concerning the ultimate political or ideological organization of
the international system, and its rules.
 Foreign Policy Behavior
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 Foreign policy behavior refers to the actions states take

towards each other.
 Arnold Wolfers suggested that all foreign policy
behavior ultimately boils down to three patterns:
 Self-preservation-maintaining the status quo; USA
 Self-extension-revising the status quo in one‘s own
favor; BRICS
 Self-abnegation-revising the status quo in some else‘s
favor; LDCs
 Foreign Policy Dimensions
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 The analysis of foreign policy behavior can also be done along a

number of specific dimensions. These dimensions include
alignment, scope and modus operandi.
 Alignment- whether national leaders choose to ally with certain
countries or to remain neutral. It focuses on decisions of
individual states or governments. Three patterns;
 Alliances are formal agreements to provide mutual military
assistance; carry legal weight and certain benefits as well as
risks.
 Neutrality is a stance of formal non-partisanship in world affairs.
 Nonalignment has been the foreign policy pattern of most
developing state during cold war-NAM
 Scope
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 The scope of a country‘s activities and interests which

includes extensive, far-reaching international contacts as
well as limited activities abroad. Three patterns
 Global terms; major powers that have defined their
interest in global terms, interacting regularly with countries
in nearly every region of the world. USA, China
 Regional terms; interacting primarily with neighboring
states in the same geographical area, frequently concerning
economic issues such as trade, India, South Africa
 Isolationism; totally cut off from the outside world,
Burma 1970s
 Mode of Operation/ “Modus Opernadi’
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 Some countries often rely on multilateral institutions to

address different issues while others very much rely on
unilateral means to solve the problems by themselves.
 The more multi-lateralist a state is, the greater its
tendency to seek solutions to problems through
diplomatic forums in which several states participate,
such as the United Nations
 The more unilateral a state is the more likely to initiate
actions in international relations or to resist initiatives
taken by others
 Instruments of Foreign Policy
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1. Diplomacy
 It existed for as long as civilization has (date back at least 2500
years) though lacked many of the characteristics and
commonalities of modern diplomacy.
 It is a system of structured communication between two or more
parties. E.g via envoys
 It is a process between actors (diplomats, usually representing a
state) who exist within a system (international relations) and
engage in private and public dialogue (diplomacy) to pursue
their objectives in a peaceful manner.
 It is not foreign policy, rather instrument-an essential tool
required to operate successfully in today‘s international system
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 Diplomacy in the past and present-multilateral

diplomacy, public diplomacy, leader-to-leader
(summitry diplomacy) in sharp contrast to secret
diplomacy and bilateral diplomacy
 The essence of diplomacy remains Bargaining which
can be defined as a means of settling differences over
priorities between contestants through an exchange of
proposals for mutually acceptable solutions.
 Rules of Effective Diplomacy
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 Be realistic
 Be careful about what you say
 Seek common ground
 Understand the other side
 Be patient
 Leave avenues of retreat open
 2. Economic Instruments of Foreign Policy
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 States rely up on each other for resources and commodities that

enable them to develop and sustain viable economies.
 States often uses their economic muscle to influence the behavior
(action, perception and role) of others.
 Economic, particularly trade instruments of foreign policy are
normally used for three purposes,
 To achieve any foreign policy objective by exploiting need and
dependence and offering economic rewards, or threat, ending or
imposing economic punishments;
 To increase a state‘s capability or deprive a potential enemy‘s
capabilities ;and
 To create economic satellites (guaranteed markets and resources of
supply) or help maintain political obedience in satellites by creating a
r/nship of economic dependence.
 Some of economic instruments of FP
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 Tariff: Taxing all foreign made products entering into a country

 Quota: Control imports of some commodities under a favorable price,
limiting its amount in a given time period.
 Boycott: Eliminating the import of either a specific commodity or the
total range of export products sold by the country against which the
boycott is organized.
 Embargo: Prohibiting a country’s own business men from concluding its
transactions with commercial organization in the country against which
the embargo is organized.
 Loans, Credits and Currency Manipulations
 Foreign Aid: The transfer of money, goods, or technical advice from
donor to recipient
 Military Aid: probably the oldest type of aid which had been used for
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Thank You!!!