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 Session 13

Foreign Policy: Actions, Choice and

Responsibility

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 Main Topics

• Action

• Choice

• Responsibility
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 Action

• All states have a foreign policy in

some form,

• States are the main players in the

realm of foreign policy,
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 International Environment,

• States

• Transnational actors
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 Domestic Environment,

• Other domestic ministries in

the ‘foreign policy process’,

• Internationalization of
domestic politics,
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 Change:

Quantitative changes = qualitative changes,

• Professional diplomats,
• Functional experts,
• Bureaucratic rivals,

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 Today

• Foreign policy today is, a broad area of

interface between the public policies of
one state or community and the external
environment,

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 • Foreign ministry is not the
Gatekeeper between government
and world

• Governmental and societal actors

involved in external relations,
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 What does ‘state’ mean in todays foreign policy context?

Actions in international relations still occur

significantly through foreign policies,
• Foreign policy from above
• Foreign policy from below,
• Intergovernmental organizations,

Foreign policy is thus now a far more contested

and complex area,
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 Multi-structuralism

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 Actions

• The world is politically

pluralist
• It consists Multiple actors
resulting in multiple
actions,
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 Choice

Choices is central to modern economics and to

much political science,

• Rational choice,

• Public choice,

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 The options of choice,

•Volunteerism
•Determinism

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 Cont:

• Foreign policy is a Cusp between

choice and constraint,
• Depending on actor, moment and
situation,
• Cold war, Cuba, Taliban,

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 Cont:

• Foreign policy is not always a

dependent variable,

• Wrong choice can bring down

a leader or even a regime,
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 Responsibility

• Who is responsible for what and

why?
Relational Concept,

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 Definition

• First, formal duties which a

person has to others by virtue of
their role.
• Second, accepting the burden of
taking decisions together with
their consequences,
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 Foreign policy context:

• Decision makers and citizens,

• International commitments,

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 Foreign policy is responsible for:

Inside,
• constitution, public opinion, government,
party colleagues,

Outside,
• allies, privileged partners, international law,
international community, international
organization, world opinion
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 Other

• To a lesser degree, to History,

(past generations, coming
generations)

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 Three other dimensions,

• Legitimacy
• Identity
• Ethics
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 Legitimacy

• A foreign policy should have

both internal and external
legitimacy,

• Taiwan
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 Identity

• Subject and object of foreign

of foreign policy should share
common identity,
• and common sense, wellbeing
of the constituency

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 Ethics

Balance,
• Morals and national interests,

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 Thank you

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