Definition of Foreign Policy

• Foreign policy is a planned strategy of dealing with other nations.
• It is largely meant to safeguard a county’s national interests
• And also involves state and non-state actors for its success.
• In the foreign policy-making process the goals of a nation are attained through the use of soft, hard and smart power depending on the situation.
• Hill (2003) argued that foreign Policy is the substance of a nation’s efforts to promote its interest’s vis-a-vis other nations.

Internal and External Environments

• The word “environment” refers to surroundings or conditions in which a particular activity is carried on.
• Internal environment includes a municipal setting and domestic issues in a country that influences the country’s direction of foreign policy like the president’s vision and interests.
• Internal environment influences also include technological developments and a country’s level of economic development determines its importance in foreign affairs.
• External environment refers to outside factors that influence a country’s foreign policy like allies, geographical location, assessments by diplomats abroad, the desire for international trade markets and the activities of aggressive states.
• This post will shed more light on the role of domestic and outside factors in influencing foreign policies of countries and institutions.

Domestic and Foreign factors that influence a country's foreign policy

1.Perceived economic benefits abroad and promotion of a country's economic interests

First and foremost economic interests are at the forefront of determining foreign policy goals since a strong economy is the backbone of a powerful nation.

This is usually in search of markets and influence abroad, especially by highly developed countries.

Hill (2003) argued that foreign Policy is the substance of a nation’s efforts to promote its interest’s vis-a-vis other nations. This can be seen in the capitalistic activities of the United States of America (USA), France and Britain in the developing nations like Venezuela, Libya Africa which are meant to advance national interests which are usually pushed forward by large corporations (non-state actors) like Ford Motor Company and Coca Cola who have goals of maximizing their profits which also benefit their home governments.

Donald Trump (2015) came up with the "America first"(which according to him means getting the best trade agreements for the USA) foreign affairs agenda after realising that America had had economic losses after trying to protect its allies like Japan, South Korea and Germany against their enemies during the Bush and Obama administrations.

The issue of economic interests also explains why the European Union (EU) and its member states preach of democracy, transparency and good governance for their capitalistic business companies to flourish in regions like Africa and South America.

From a realist viewpoint, foreign policy can be referred to as the struggle for economic power by self-interested countries (Angel 2006).

The perception of economic benefits abroad also explains the bullying and manipulation of countries like Venezuela and Libya by the USA which needs natural resources (especially oil) in these countries for its national economic interests.

Therefore foreign policy is inspired by the idea of maximizing national economic interests abroad.

2.The need to attract foreign direct investments abroad

In addition to the above, the low economically industrialised countries search for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) for the development of their countries.

This is largely because of domestic problems like lack of industries and local production which force lowly economically developed countries like DRC and Zambia to seek investments from developed countries like China and Japan which leads to employment and less poverty according to the interdependence perspective.

3.A common history among states

More so a similar history and kindred experiences in the past influences a country’s foreign policy. Interactions by countries in the past have resulted in brotherhood alliances and the politics of solidarity.

For instance, Ghana in the 21st Century has remained in good terms with most members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) like Cuba, Malaysia and India as well as the Frontline States like Mozambique, Tanzania and Angola who have been against imperialism, neo-colonialism and all forms of foreign aggression since the 20th Century.

However historical experiences maybe forgotten in the face of desirable national interests. For instance, the rise of strong USA-Japanese friendship (even though being enemies during the Second World War of 1939-1945) proves that historical factors may be less important at times in influencing foreign policy especially when new national interests arise over time.

4.The head of state as the chief foreign affairs planner

Moreover the head of state’s ideology, personality, interests and vision are influential in determining a country’s relations with others.

The rise of Donald Trump is different from the approaches of Barack Obama who was not a racist or radical but liberal.

Trump objected to receiving immigrants from Haiti, reportedly saying “they all have AIDS” which was different from Barack Obama’s non-discriminatory and accommodating approach (Woodward 2018). This is a clear sign that differences among the leaders are also influential in the foreign policy-making process.

On the other hand, this does not mean that this factor is an independent determinant of foreign relations since most patriotic leaders like Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are always guided by the dictates and demands of national interest and have mandates of securing the national interests of their nations.

5.Ideology and principles of the ruling party

Furthermore, the ideology of the ruling party is very important in foreign policy-making processes.

During the 2016 USA presidential election campaign period Trump was against the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the United States (Capitalist) and Cuba (Marxist) in July 2015 and he argued that he would only restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba if they met his demands to restore political freedoms and free political prisoners (Johnson 2016).

6.The economic strength of a state

In addition to the above, a country’s level of economic development also determines its actions and influence in international relations.

This has led to those with gold having clearly defined foreign policies.

The USA has been successful to a greater degree in securing its national objectives because of it being a highly industrialized and economically developed state.

This has made her use foreign aid as a tool for securing her foreign policy agenda.

The rise of India and Chinese economically in the 21^st century has also led them to have successful foreign policies and securing their interests than the low economically developed nations like Uganda, Somalia and Malawi (Glaser 2011).

The economic success of the USA explains why it has diplomatic missions in almost every sovereign country leading to around 294 embassies whilst others have less diplomatic missions abroad.

7.Technological strength

Furthermore, advanced technology is a major factor of the strength of the foreign policies of the major powers.

The ability to provide technical knowledge to less economically developed and developing nations has been a very powerful tool of influence and power.

A steady-going development in technological progression has been a source of strength for Indian foreign relations in the 21^st Century. (Rosenau 1997) argued that technological changes can modify the military and economic capacity of a society which makes it's status and role in the international system recognisable.

The USA since 1945 has always used its technology advantage for putting pressure on the foreign policies of developing nations which has perpetuated the dependency syndrome and making the global south failing to cut the umbilical cord with the USA.

The technology factor also explains the success of the USA in the invasion of Libya and the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi through the USA (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) military competence.

8.Geographic location and international affairs

Also, the geographical location of a country determines how it acts and how other countries react to it.

Donald Trump on 11 August 2017, days after the Venezuelan Constituent National Assembly was sworn in, said that:

"Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering, and they are dying" and that the United States had "many options for Venezuela", including a possible "military option"

This can be attributed to the USA’s proximity to Venezuela as well as the USA’s economic interests.

Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster did not recommend him to pursue a military option in Venezuela because Latin American governments were against foreign intervention in the region.

This shows countries of the same region support peaceful foreign policies to maintain regional order, peace and security.

9.Reports gathered by embassies and foreign missions

More so, the world perspective sketched by diplomacy and the reports prepared by the diplomats are valuable sources of foreign policymaking.

For instance during the late 1960s contacts between India and Chinese diplomats led to normal Sino-Indian relations (Hill 2003).

This is because the style of operation and quality of diplomatic negotiations always affect the functional quality and skilfulness of foreign relations.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the foreign policies of countries and different institutions are largely influenced by the national interests of the major players on the scene.

Internal issues that influence the foreign policy-making process include the need for foreign direct investments in a struggling economy, the views and philosophy of the head of state, the ideology and viewpoints of core leaders in the ruling party, a country’s level of technological and economic development.

On the other hand, external influences for a certain country’s foreign policy include perceived good business environment abroad, similar history and experiences especially among former liberation movements against colonialism and racial subjugation, diplomatic assessments in terms of ally or foe and the geographical location.

This post has shown that whilst economic interests seen abroad inspire the foreign policy of most countries it is the domestic environment that determines the success or failure of the foreign policy.

References and sources to consider

Angel, N. (2006), The great illusion: a study of the relation of military power to national
advantage, London, Obscure Books

Glaser, C. (2011), ‘Will China’s rise lead to war?’, Foreign Affairs, 90(2), pp.80–91.

Hill. C, (2003), The Changing Politics of Foreign Policy, London, Palgrave Macmillan

Johnson, D. C, (2016), The making of Donald Trump, Brooklyn, Woody Guthrie Publications

Rosenau, J. N. (1997), Along the Domestic-Foreign Frontier: Exploring Governance in a Turbulent World, Cambridge

Trump. D. J, (2015), Crippled America:How To Make America Great Again, New York, Simon and Schuster

Woodward, B. (2018), Fear Trump in the white house, New York, Simon and Schuster

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