Class notes

Political Science 252 - Foreign Policy Analysis

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Course
Political Science 252

Institution
Stellenbosch University (SUN)

This document is based on the lecture slides, as well as what was said in lectures and aspects of the readings. It covers all Term 3 work which focuses on Foreign Policy Analysis internationally and within South Africa. It goes into depth, contains diagrams, and asks questions that the lecturer sta...

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Uploaded on September 7, 2022
Number of pages 55
Written in 2022/2023
Type Class notes
Professor(s) Prof. scarlett cornelissen
Contains All classes

political science
political science 252
polsci 252
polsci
african politics
foreign policy
foreign policy analysis
mind model analysis
small group dynamics
groupthink
internatio
stellenbosch university

Institution
Stellenbosch University (SUN)
Course
Political Science 252

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WEEK ONE:
FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS:

APPROACHES IN FPA:
- 1. Levels of analysis
- 2. Theoretical frameworks

FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS AS A SUBFIELD IN I.R.:
Foreign policy analysis is a sub-field in I.R. and therefore, reflects intellectual traditions and
trends of IR.
- See this: the same frameworks that dominate IR, dominate FPA as well.
- Also, similar debates and issues concerning epistemology, methodology, and the roles
of values.
- One can also class these approaches in terms of IR’s major perspectives:
o Realism
o Liberal-pluralism
o Critical perspective.

ONE KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO:
- Prevailing levels of analysis
- IR is state-centric and focuses on state-level of systemic explanations
- FDA encompasses analysis at these levels:
o Micro (individual)
o Meso (domestic context) Over the term, we look at
each of these levels in depth.
o Macro (systemic)

However, in the meantime, here is a brief summary of these levels of analysis…

,MICRO:
- Looks at the role of the individual leadership in foreign policy
- Analyses the psychology, cognition, and personality of the leader
o These are the variables in the analysis.
- Known as the study of foreign policy decision-making (FPDM)
o Explains the process of decision-making according to the attributes of the
leader
o can also help predict what the leader will decide for a certain policy.

MESO:
- looks at the domestic context and determinants of foreign policy.
o “What happens within the state at a domestic level?”
- E.g.:
o The role of domestic policies or public opinion
o Role of domestic interest groups
▪ Do these groups play a role in FPA (such as COSATU)
o Role of bureaucracies in foreign decision making
o Also, look at democracies and the government ministers (and their decisions)

MESO:
- Looks at how foreign policies are shaped by systemic factors
- Explains foreign policy as an outcome of:
o Power state distribution in international systems
o State attributes
o State (national) interests

The question of agency and structure is different depending on the level of analysis.

,In chronological terms, FPA was first dominated by insights of realism and neo-realism
(i.e., macro-perspectives).
- IR has some classical perspectives which were an invention of the 20th century.
- Especially shaped by:
o Morgenthau (Politics Among Nations)
o Waltz (Man, the State and War)
o Kissinger (American Foreign Policy)
▪ Through them we see the emergence of IR and FPA and thus, we can
see why realism is the dominant viewpoint and perspective.

REALISM: - power politics
- Foreign politics is determined by 2 factors:
o 1. Maintaining the balance of power (especially seen in the Cold War and
MAD)
▪ “don’t hurt what you can’t kill”
▪ Seek alliances to maintain power.
o 2. Always serve the national interest first
▪ Ideology is important, but so is pragmatism.

NEO-LIBERALISM:
- Power rivalries is a function of the national and international system
o = anarchy (no dominant power)
- Therefore, foreign politics should accommodate relative distributions of power in the
world.
o States maximize their power vis-à-vis other states
▪ Foreign politics should reflect this.

“BILLARD BALL” VIEW OF POLITICS:
FP can result in state actors deliberating how
State A they can maximize gains and minimize cost =
Contex utility maximization.
State C
Contex Realism: real-sum game
State B Liberalism: positive-sum game
Contex

, ARGUMENTS AGAINST REALISM:
Later on, schools began to criticise assumptions and claims of realism
From the view of FP, these were the arguments that were made:

1. The behaviourist application does not give satisfactory explanations
- Behaviourism focuses on measurable and observable things
o = Foreign policy is the output (acts or decisions).
▪ However, this does give a full explanation of what is happening
in the world.
- Hence the question, what about the things that are not accounted for?
o Intangibles in foreign policy decision-making
▪ E.g., the role of the leader’s personality or psych.
- Also important to study the process, and not merely the output of foreign
policy decisions.

2. Critique of rationality/rational actor model
- Who’s to say that states are rational actors driven by utilitarian (cost-benefit)
considerations?

3. It’s important to unpack the black box of foreign policy decision-making:
- Bureaucracies and ministries of foreign politics
- Executive vs. legislative vs. judicial authority
- Interest groups, public opinion, media
- Psychological and cognition

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