Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
DEFINITIONS
Various definitions have been coined and offered by different scholars. For instance Prof. Joseph Frankel says that foreign policy consists of decisions and actions which involve to some appreciable extent relations between one state and others. While according to the point of view of George Modelski it is the system of activities evolved by communities for changing the behavior of other states and for adjusting their own activities to the international environment Huge Gibson says foreign policy is a well rounded comprehensive plan based on knowledge and experience for conducting business of government with rest of the world Literally speaking, protection and promotion of the vital interest of the state is the primary objective of foreign policy. It can be said conveniently that foreign policy of a country is an expression of its fundamental self identity as a civilization at given point of its history Padel Ford defines, foreign policy is the key element in the process by which a state translates its broadly conceived goals and takes interests into concrete courses of action to attain these objectives and preserve interests It can be said that foreign policy is the pursuit of NATIONAL INTEREST, which may largely depend upon the perception of the ruling party in tune with its ideological orientation
Continued . External Factors and their influence on foreign policy Case Point Pakistan
NATIONAL INTEREST
England has neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies; she has permanent interests. Lord Palmerston At first the concept of "national interest." It seems crisp, clear, objective: what's good for the nation as a whole in international affairs. (What's good for the nation as a whole in domestic affairs is the Public interest.) National interest lies at the very heart of the military and diplomatic professions and leads to the formulation of a national strategy and of the calculation of the power necessary to support that strategy. Upon reflection, however, one realizes how hard it is to turn concepts of national interest into working strategy. It requires one to perceive the world with undistorted clarity and even to anticipate the second- and third-order effects of policies. Few are so gifted. Instead of bringing clarity and cohesion, many quarrel over what the national interest is in any given situation. The concept of national interest still has utility, not as an objective fact but as a philosophical argument in favor of limiting the number of crusades a country may be inclined to undertake
CONCEPT OF NATIONAL INTEREST The word interest is derived from Latin and means "it concerns, or it makes a difference to". In the 1930s, Charles Bear wrote the first book concerning national interest. In following years the notion of national interest in IR has been used to describe the underlying rationale for the behavior of states in a threatening global environment, which preserves and protects one's values against another. National interest is understood to mean a state of affairs valued solely for its benefit to the nation. National interest often becomes synonymous with national egoism, with its disposition of transferring self love onto the national group
Continued .
Scholars define national interest variously. Some put self-preservation (territorial integrity, political independence and fundamental government institutions) at the head of the list. Other categories of national interest focus on selfsufficiency, prestige, aggrandizement. Charles Bear focused on the notion of territory and commerce as being the defining features of national interest. Morgenthau says that a country's national interests should be proportionate to its capacities Britain and France after WWII had superpower ambitions, not commiserate to their capacities).
No one starts a waror rather, no one in his senses ought to do sowithout first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it. Carl von Clausewit To know in war how to recognize an opportunity and seize it is better than anything else. Niccolo Machiavelli,The Art of War