POL344 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
who is sensitive to the movement of opinion and who diverts or re-orients it perhaps, but who does not set himself in direct opposition to it. Lord Strang states thus:
“A government may fairly claim that it can be in a better position to judge the national interest than the public itself, it can hope that public doubts will respond in time to repeated and authoritative expositions of the government’s case, or best of all that events themselves will vindicate the policy. It cannot be denied that public ventilation of issues of foreign policy, often at awkward moments has a hampering effect upon the flexibility, resourcefulness, and imagination with which diplomatic relations might otherwise be more fruitfully, conducted.
(vii) Pressure/Interest Groups: Political parties and pressure groups exercise influence on the foreign policy of states. However, the influences of such groups vary from country to country and from issue to issue. It also depends upon such variable as general strength or weakness of the government, whether there is a pending election or not, and the extent to which an unsatisfied group can politically harm leaders who resist it.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Analyse the impact of pressure and interest groups on foreign policy of a country.
international economic relations also affect the options available to states.
(i) International Law: The existence of international law and international ethical norms acts in greater or lesser degree to limit the freedom to maneuver of states in the system. It is true that international law is in many respects different from domestic law, it does not flow from the enactment of a body with authority to make laws like legislatures, and it is not enforceable like domestic law. It is mainly constituted by agreements among states on the conventions which are to guide states’ mutual relations. Nevertheless, states in their own interests do observe these laws and norms most of the time, despite the absence of an enforcement agency.
(ii) International Organisations: A country’s foreign policy option is also often affected by its membership of international organisations. The existence of many of these institutions which are established for a variety of reasons ranging from cultural to economic and political-strategic is a major feature of the post 1945 international system. Member states policies are usually affected by the nature of the particular institution and its policy objectives on the one hand, and the effect of their institutional membership on the policies of other states towards them on the other hand. However, the degree to which member state’s policies are affected by their membership is a function of value attached to a particular membership of the organisation. But if it is military alliance, member states policies are generally affected and even determined by the constitution of the alliance.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
What are the components of foreign policy external environment?
4.0 CONCLUSION
It should be noted that the importance of any particular factor is dependent on the policy-makers image of the situation, which is the psychological environment. It is not uncommon to find participants in the process of foreign policy decision-making, having different perceptions of policy objectives as well as of the realities of the environment.
Different beliefs, values and wants of people create in their minds certain expectations and desires about information concerning their environment. The crucial determining factor is therefore the
decision-43
makers perception of their environment. Policy makers are however cognisant of the dangers for policy outcomes inherit in the existence of a wide gap between the psychological and operational environments.
They therefore, make efforts to narrow such gaps, particularly by ensuring that they have as much information as possible, by relying on more than one source of information.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Opinions are divided about the importance of public opinion on foreign policy decision-making. Discuss.
5.0 SUMMARY
States and the global system make-up two distinct levels: the state level encompasses domestic characteristics, and the global or international system level encompasses all actor relationships and the changes in these relations over time. Although these two traditionally discrete realms have become increasingly fused in what is called interment decision making, as the need for leaders to coordinate their domestic and foreign policies has increased with the globalisation of international relations, this categorical distinction is still useful for purposes of analysis.
External environment of foreign policy include all activities occurring beyond a state’s borders that affect the choices made by its official and the people they govern. Such factors as the content of international law, the number of military alliances and the changing levels of international trade, sometimes profoundly affect the choices of decision-makers. Internal environment on the other hand are those that exist at the level of the state, not global level. Here attention focuses on variations in states attributes, such as demographic, geography, military capabilities, levels of economic development, and types of governments, that may influence different actor’s foreign policy choices.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss the effect of external environment on foreign policy making.
2. Using Nigeria as an example, explain how the structure of government in the past ten year plays a role in shaping a country’s foreign policy.
3. Using United States of America as an example, explain how the structure of Government plays a role in shaping a country’s foreign policy.
44
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Frankel, J. (1967). The Making of Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Decision Making. London: Oxford University Press.
Ojo, O. & Amadu S. (2002). Concepts in International Relations.
Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Classy Prints & Company.
Reynolds, P. A. (1982). An Introduction to International Relations (2nd Ed). London: Longman.
45
POL344 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS