scholarly journals A sovereignist revolution? Italy’s foreign policy under the “Yellow–Green” government

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Coticchia
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Northern League ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Five Star Movement ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
New Perspective

AbstractIn Italy, the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Northern League (LN) formed a coalition government after the legislative elections of March 2018. What has been the actual impact of the populist executive in the Italian foreign policy? Relying on the (few) existing analyses that have developed specific hypotheses on the expected international repercussions of populist parties-ruled governments, the paper examines Italy’s foreign policy under the Italian “Yellow–Green” cabinet (June 2018–August 2019). The manuscript advances three hypotheses. First, the foreign policy of the Conte’s government has been featured by a personalistic and a centralized decision-making process. Second, the Yellow-Green executive has adopted a vocal confrontational stance on the world stage, especially within multilateral frameworks, to “take back control” over national sovereignty. Third, such sovereignist foreign policy was largely symbolic because of “strategic” populist attitudes toward public opinion and due to domestic and international constraints. The manuscript—which is based on secondary and primary sources, such as interviews with former ministers, MPs, and diplomats—aims at offering a new perspective on populist parties and foreign policy, alimenting the rising debate on foreign policy change.

scholarly journals Sovereignty Sensitivities and the Kosovo Crisis: The Impact of Domestic Considerations on Canada’s Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-165
Author(s):  
Krenare Recaj
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Ethnic Cleansing ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Regional Stability ◽  
Canadian Foreign Policy ◽  
Kosovo War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

In 1999, Canada participated in NATO’s Operation Allied Force, a seventy- eight-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia meant to end the ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians. Officially, Canada’s interests in developing its foreign policy toward Kosovo were humanitarian and regional stability considerations. These were shared with the rest of its NATO allies. Thus, on the surface, it would seem that Canada and its NATO allies had similar concerns during the decision-making process around Kosovo. Digging deeper, an analysis of the primary sources available suggests that Canada did, in fact, have additional and unique considerations during the Kosovo crisis, namely national unity. This analysis amply illustrates the close interconnection between domestic issues and Canadian foreign policy. During the Kosovo War, Canada had to balance sovereignty sensitivities with humanitarian concerns. From the first time Kosovo was mentioned in Parliament on 18 November 1991 to the end of the Kosovo War on 11 June 1999, Canadian parliamentarians attempted to distinguish what Canada’s views on Kosovo were. Historians have likewise been occupied with the same task: distinguishing the Canadian contribution and position. Like the parliamentarians, not one of the Canadian historians who has written on the topic has questioned the official government version of what motivated Canada’s policy in Kosovo. They all credit a combination of humanitarian and regional concerns. Therefore, there was consensus at the time, and has been since, about what motivated Canada’s policy toward Kosovo. However, an analysis of the primary sources reveals that Canada did in fact have an additional and unique consideration during the Kosovo crisis: national unity. Canada’s domestic national unity issue influenced Canadian foreign policy toward Kosovo at every stage.

DEMOCRACY AT THE SERVICE OF FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. FREDDIE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Apartheid Regime

The article examines the place and role of democracy and human rights in South Africas foreign policy. The author analyzes the process of South Africas foreign policy change after the fall of the apartheid regime and transition to democracy. He gives characteristics of the foreign policy under different presidents of South Africa from 1994 to 2018 and analyzes the political activities of South Africa in the area of peacekeeping and human rights on the African continent.

Germany and Peaceful Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Brummer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
Western Germany ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
United Nations System ◽  
Nations System

From the outset, (Western) Germany has pursued a multipronged foreign policy of peaceful change. This has encompassed peaceful foreign policy change based on processes of accommodation and reconciliation with other countries (e.g., France, Israel, and countries in the Eastern bloc), peaceful regional change through coleadership of the European integration process, and peaceful global change based on its engagement within the United Nations system. In several instances, this policy of peaceful change has gone beyond the mere conduct of interstate relations without resorting to violence toward a more fundamental transformation of state-to-state interaction in which nonviolent cooperation has become the norm and the recourse to war virtually unthinkable.

Alliance Embeddedness: Rodrigo Duterte and the Resilience of the US–Philippine Alliance

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Winger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personal Relationship ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Us ◽  
Philippine Government ◽  
Defense Cooperation

Abstract In 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to radically reorient Philippine foreign policy by separating from Manila's longtime ally the United States. Yet, this vaunted break with America has failed to manifest. Joint US–Philippine military activities have continued with President Duterte even singing the praises of his American partners. To understand how this about-face in Manila occurred, I conducted a detailed analysis of the first eighteen months of the Duterte administration. Drawing on primary sources and interviews with government officials from both countries, I argue that the continued vitality of the US–Philippine alliance stems not from disenchantment with China nor personal relationship between Duterte and Trump, but rather from an underlying institutional affinity engendered over decades of defense cooperation. Specifically, institutionalized cooperation within the alliance has cultivated a strong reservoir of support for the alliance within key institutions inside the Philippine government. This case not only highlights the development of the Duterte administration but also illustrates the wider ability of alliances to weather political discord by cultivating support within national bureaucracies.

Domestic Constraints on Foreign Policy Change in Belarus

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-55
Author(s):  
Paul Hansbury
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Group Competition ◽  
Domestic Constraints ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Policy Shifts

Abstract After 2014 the relationship between Russia and its ally Belarus was strained. Russia was dissatisfied with Belarus’s foreign policy and sought to influence the latter’s international affairs. This article considers the extent of change and continuity in Belarus’s foreign policy, and thus whether Russia’s criticisms reflect consequential shifts, covering the period 2016–2019. The analysis begins with the removal of EU sanctions, which afforded Belarus new opportunities, and ends before the protest movement that emerged ahead of the election in 2020. The study considers three policy areas: international trade; diplomacy more broadly; and foreign policy concerns for prestige. The article argues that Belarus made appreciable policy changes in response to structural pressures in the period 2016–2019, but the parameters of these foreign policy shifts were necessarily highly constrained by domestic interest group competition which prevents Belarus distancing itself from Russia. It concludes with a brief reflection on how the 2020 election protests and repressions affect the dynamics described.

scholarly journals Expert-analytical Support of Foreign Policy Activities

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 22-48
Author(s):  
A. A. Varfolomeev ◽  
O. P. Ivanov ◽  
I. V. Surma ◽  
Y. A. Trefilova
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Detailed Interpretation ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Expert Community

The article presents the final results of the project studying the system of expert and analytical support for foreign policy decisions. The project is devoted to conducting a survey and a set of interviews with employees of government bodies (leaders and chief specialists) who are involved in the process of preparing and making foreign policy decisions. The article contains the officials’ assessment of the main challenges when interacting with the scientific and expert community, as well as a "desired image" of such interaction.The study was held in two stages (stage I in February-October 2020, stage II-in January-August 2021) in the form of a survey with a set of follow-up interviews for a more detailed interpretation of the data obtained. The interviewees included 24 employees of federal executive bodies (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Rossotrudnichestvo; departments of international cooperation of line ministries, agencies and services); offices of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (departments providing international and inter-parliamentary cooperation). All participants of the study are in positions of the "managers" category or are part of the group of "chief specialists", that is, they have experience in decision-making process and/or in elaborating them. The survey and interviews were anonymous. The research is within structural-functional, institutional and regulatory approaches. The authors note that informational materials with low level of generalization and lacking recommendations and forecasts will never replace genuine analytics and expertise. Given the development of artificial intelligence, generalizing information will be automatized. As a result, expertise has to be of better quality.

scholarly journals Think Tanks In The Formation Of The Central Asian Vector Of British Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (06) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Shakhnoza Akramjanovna Azimbayeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
British Foreign Policy ◽  
History Of

This article examines the role and place of British think tanks in the design and development of the country’s foreign policy towards the Central Asian region. This issue is studied in combination with an analysis of the history of the formation of British think tanks, the positions of these centers in relation to Central Asia in the early 90s of the twentieth century after the collapse of the USSR and the state of modern think tanks that study Central Asia and their influence on the decision-making process in Great Britain.

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