MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Lecturer
PERCYSLAGE CHIGORA
chigorap@msu.ac.zw
Office 42
Consultation: by Appointment
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Introduction
A subfied of international relations that addresses
issues of foreign policy. as a sub-field of the
study of international relations it is aimed at
understanding the processes beyond foreign
policy decision making.
Specifically, Foreign policy analysis (FPA) is a
branch of political science dealing with theory
development and empirical study regarding the
processes and outcomes of foreign policy.
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Introduction
Foreign policy analysis involves the study of how
a state makes foreign policy. As it will be
analyzing the decision making process, FPA
involves the study of both international and
domestic politics.
Means of implementing FP- diplomacy, war,
sanctions.....
According to foreignpolicyanalysis.org, "As a field
of study, foreign policy analysis is characterized
by its actor-specific focus.
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Foreign policy analysis isnecessarily concerned
with the boundaries between the
externalenvironment outside of the nation state
and the internal or domestic environment, with
its variety of sub-national sources of influence.
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Stages in the decision making
* Assessment of the international and
domestic political environment - Foreign
policy is made and implemented within an
international and domestic political context,
which must be understood by a state in
order to determine the best foreign policy
option. For example, a state may need to
respond to an international crisis.
* Goal setting - A state has multiple foreign
policy goals. A state must determine which
goal is affected by the international and
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Stages in the decision making (cont)
* Formal decision making action - A formal
foreign policy decision will be taken at some
level within a government. Foreign policy
decisions are usually made by the executive
branch of government. Common
governmental actors or institutions which
make foreign policy decisions include: the
head of state (such as a president) or head
of government (such as a prime minister),
cabinet, or minister.
* Implementation of chosen policy option -
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
Key approches
Rational actor model
The rational actor model is based on rational
choice theory. The model adopts the state as
the primary unit of analysis, and inter-state
relations (or international relations) as the
context for analysis. The state is seen as a
monolithic unitary actor, capable of making
rational decisions based on preference ranking
and value maximisation. According to the
rational actor model, a rational decision making
process is used by a state.
MAIA 712 Foreign Policy Analysis