scholarly journals EXPLORING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FOREIGN POLICY IN MALAYSIA: DEFINITIONS, PREMIERSHIP AND FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 01-15
Author(s):  
Faridah Jaafar ◽  
Nurulhasanah Abdul Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
The Core ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Definition Of

Academic discussion on the fundamentals of foreign policy often draws a debatable argument in International Relations research. Yet, the effort to unravel the core definition of foreign policy is limited and largely unobserved. Regardless of any foreign policy beliefs, understanding the fundamentals is crucial to make informed decisions related to international affairs. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the fundamentals of foreign policy in twofold namely; (1) Working on outlining the definition of foreign policy and (2) Factors that influence foreign policy decisions. By employing secondary data, the systematic review was conducted based on past literature with respect to foreign policy studies and premiership; extracted from reputable databases. The literature search was limited to English sources, published in Scopus, ScienceDirect, and indexed in Google Scholar from 1960 to 2020. Accordingly, five factors emerged from the review which revealed the significant influence of individual, position, government, society, and system in formulating foreign policy decisions. These factors are considered as drivers in the foreign policy landscape and evidently shaped the Malaysian principles in collaborating with international cooperation. Finally, this paper provides insights into the existing literature with a detailed definition of foreign policy and narrates the way foreign policy decisions have effects on Malaysian political affairs. A set of recommendations were proposed as a brief agenda for future research.

Public Policy and Foreign Policy Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Charillon
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Political Problem

As a transdisciplinary puzzle, between international relations and public policy, foreign policy analysis (FPA) owes much to the study of decision-making processes and its early pioneers (Richard Snyder, James Rosenau, Harold and Margaret Sprout . . . ). Formulated and implemented by state agents, foreign policy fully belongs to the field of public policy studies, whose approaches have proved relevant to analyze its formulation. Still, it remains singular for several reasons. In constant interdependence with extraterritorial and mostly unpredictable actors or events, it is more reactive (or at least less proactive) than most domestic policies. Vulnerable to various transnational linkages, foreign policy also leads the analyst to rethink several pillars of public policy studies, such as the role of public opinion, the nature of elites, or the feasibility of evaluation. Its implementation, in particular, depends on the leeway resulting from foreign processes initiated in remote states or societies. Because what is at stake is national identity, reputation, or status, the national interest, and war and peace, the possibility of nonrational, psychologically biased, or even passionate responses to a political problem is higher. The emergence of nonstate actors (nongovernmental organizations, companies, religious groups), substate entities (regions, federated states), and suprastate organizations in international politics is a compelling factor that urges us to rethink foreign policy as public policy. The fading boundaries between domestic and international dimensions, as well as between public and private strategies, have a deep impact on the analysis. The theorization and practice of new kinds of policy networks are likely to be at the heart of future research agendas, both in international relations and public policy studies.

Cultivating Learning Agility Through Mindfulness

2021 ◽  
pp. 182-203
Author(s):  
R. Andrew Lee
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Learning Agility ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Definition Of

“Cultivating Learning Agility Through Mindfulness Training: A Framework and Recommendations” reviews the research related to the role of mindfulness in enhancing learning agility and presents a model to guide future research and applications. It begins by presenting a definition of mindfulness as characterized by three qualities: a focus on present moment experience, an attitude of receptiveness and curiosity, and an emergent capacity for metacognition. It then outlines a process model for learning agility; the model consists of five factors: mindset, awareness, action, integration, and application. This model is then used as a framework to summarize the research linking mindfulness and learning agility. Finally, recommendations are presented for implementing mindfulness training to enhance learning agility.

Beyond National Interest: A Critical Evaluation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Theory of International Polities

1955 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth W. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Case Law ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Normative Structure ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Law And Science ◽  
Intellectual Environment

Until more or less recently, few students of international affairs have been preoccupied with the theoretical aspects of their field. To the extent that theory is distinguished from history, law and science, this is especially true. Historians have sought to uncover the facts and recite them with the most fastidious regard for the circumstances of time and place. Lawyers have tried to detect in the case law of international agreements and treaties the normative structure of international society. Political scientists have increasingly turned to new scientific methods and statistical techniques designed to measure public opinion and its influence on foreign policy. Few scholars have concerned themselves with the fundamental characteristics of international society or of good or bad foreign policy. In this intellectual environment any explicit, systematic theory of international relations has had to await a threefold development. It has required a broader conception of the proper methods for studying international affairs, a clearer identification of basic concepts and “laws,” and a more serious discussion of fundamental theoretical problems like the relation of theory to concrete problems.

Agent-Based Computational Modeling and International Relations Theory: Quo Vadis?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Cioffi-Revilla
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
World Order ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Quo Vadis

Agent-based computational modeling (ABM, for short) is a formal and supplementary methodological approach used in international relations (IR) theory and research, based on the general ABM paradigm and computational methodology as applied to IR phenomena. ABM of such phenomena varies according to three fundamental dimensions: scale of organization—spanning foreign policy, international relations, regional systems, and global politics—as well as by geospatial and temporal scales. ABM is part of the broader complexity science paradigm, although ABMs can also be applied without complexity concepts. There have been scores of peer-reviewed publications using ABM to develop IR theory in recent years, based on earlier pioneering work in computational IR that originated in the 1960s that was pre-agent based. Main areas of theory and research using ABM in IR theory include dynamics of polity formation (politogenesis), foreign policy decision making, conflict dynamics, transnational terrorism, and environment impacts such as climate change. Enduring challenges for ABM in IR theory include learning the applicable ABM methodology itself, publishing sufficiently complete models, accumulation of knowledge, evolving new standards and methodology, and the special demands of interdisciplinary research, among others. Besides further development of main themes identified thus far, future research directions include ABM applied to IR in political interaction domains of space and cyber; new integrated models of IR dynamics across domains of land, sea, air, space, and cyber; and world order and long-range models.

Virtue Ethics and International Relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Ainley
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
International Ethics ◽  
International Political Theory ◽  
The Right ◽  
Working Out

Virtue Ethics (VE) is a way of thinking about how to behave well which focuses on the character of moral agents and the nature of the good life. This contrasts with dominant approaches to international ethics which prioritize the identification or development of moral rules or duties (deontological approaches) or the consequences of actions (consequentialist approaches). The relevance of virtue ethics to international affairs is established by setting out the critique of the dominant law-based approaches offered by VE and then exploring the positive contribution VE can make. Virtue ethicists argue that character and a concrete conception of the human good are central to ethics—that the right question to ask when working out what it means to be ethical is not “what should I do” but “what sort of person should I be?” The three central concepts in VE—virtue, practical wisdom, and flourishing—have not been applied systematically qua VE in international political theory or international relations, but their appearance in various guises in recent scholarship suggests avenues for future research. Four such avenues are identified, ranging from the moderate to the radical, which offer innovative ways to confront key ethical dilemmas faced in international affairs.

The Future of International Relations

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Reich ◽  
Richard Ned Lebow
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Research ◽  
Material Power

This chapter revisits the concept of hegemony, elaborating some of the most important connections among them and assessing their implications for both U.S. foreign policy and international relations theory. Drawing on empirical findings laid out in the previous chapters, this chapter contends that hegemony is no longer applicable to international affairs, as its constituent functions are widely shared and exercised more by negotiation than fiat. This constellation requires a new conceptualization of influence. The chapter points to a new research agenda for the present century based on the recognition that we now live in a multipowered world—where actors combine social and material power to gain influence in varying ways—and not a unipolar world.

A Feminist Reading of Turkish Foreign Policy and the S-400 Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 030437542110489
Author(s):  
C. Akça Ataç
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
International System ◽  
State Control ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
Turkish Foreign Policy ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Turkish Case

Hypermasculine hegemonic masculinities have become the norm to dominate the foreign policies all around the world. As the populist foreign-policy visions, the byproducts of androcentric norm-creation, undermine the established rules for peace, diplomacy and co-existence in the international system, other experiences have faded away from the narratives that have defined and contributed to foreign policies. The accelerating urgency of the national security agendas of the hypermasculine states seek to cancel feminist definitions, practices and theories for the sake of physical force and state control. Nevertheless, more than any other period in history, it is these conflicting times that necessitate Cynthia Enloe’s ‘curious feminist’ questions the most. Turkish foreign policy of the last decade has become a quintessential example of hypermasculine hegemonic masculinity, especially within the context of the S-400 crisis with the US, NATO and Russia; its feminist critics are distressingly rare. This paper aims to offer an alternative reading of Turkey’s S-400 saga from a feminist perspective to contribute a Turkish case to feminist International Relations. First a definition of feminist International Relations will be provided. Then, the hypermasculine character of the Turkish hegemonic masculinity and its reflection on the current Turkish foreign policy will be analyzed. Lastly, the S-400 crisis of Turkey’s decision to buy Russian defense missiles as a NATO member will be examined.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document