Question

What are the four most important steps in completing a foreign policy analysis. Explain in detail why you feel these four activities are so critical to the task of informing your client about a foreign policy problem.

Answer 1

The four most important steps in completing a foreign policy analysis are:

1. 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. It is very important as the international political environment forms a very important part of the foriegn policy. If they are of the nature of friendly environment, our policies will be linient. Else, they need to be tough to protect our own nation. For example, a state may need to respond to an international crisis. Pakistan has to cultivate and maintain good relations with the members of OIC; it has to support causes of the Umma because of the dictates of the public opinion. Similarly one reason Pakistan conducted tit for tat nuclear tests in May 1998 following Indian nuclear tests was inter alia public pressure.
2. Goal setting – A state has multiple foreign policy goals. A state must determine which goal is affected by the international and domestic political environment at any given time. In addition, foreign policy goals may conflict, which will require the state to prioritise. As Pakistan’s and for that matter any state’s survival tops the agenda of objectives, so it has to side with the US in the wake of Post 9/11 and the latter’s decision to be down with the Taliban.
3. Determination of policy options – A state must then determine what policy options are available to meet the goal or goals set in light of the political environment. This will involve an assessment of the state’s capacity to implement policy options and an assessment of the consequences of each policy option. Pakistan’s decision of entering into Western sponsored alliances in the 50s and taking a U Turn in the wake of 9/11 were in fact some of the policy options that Pakistani Policy makers opted for.
4. Implementation of chosen policy option – Once a foreign policy option has been chosen, and a formal decision has been made, then the policy must be implemented. Foreign policy is most commonly implemented by specialist foreign policy arms of the state bureaucracy, such as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs or State Department. Other departments may also have a role in implementing foreign policy, such as departments for: trade, defence, and aid.