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N. ROSENAU
COLLEGE,
RUTGERS
UNIVERSITY
296
STUDIES
QUARTERLY
297
COMPARATIVEFOREIGN POLICY
along this
tationsin progressrevealsthatotherresearchfindings
thesurest
perhaps
is
there
Then
linearesoonto becomeavailable."
of
thoseastutestudents trendsin
publishers,
signof all: textbook
and are busily
in thisdirection
Academe,have discerneda stirring
thatcan be adoptedas textswhenthe
up manuscripts
drumming
acceptanceby politicalscientists.7
trendachievesdiscipline-wide
In sum,it seemsmorethanlikelythatin thecomingyearssomeForeignPolicy"willoccupya prominent
thingcalled"Comparative
place in the teachingof politicalscienceand in the researchof
desirable?Is the
But is such a development
politicalscientists.
symbolto which
policy a contentless
foreign
phrase"comparative
politicspay lip servicein orderto remain
of international
students
au courantwiththeircolleagueselsewherein thediscipline?Does
impulsethatcan neverbe realizedbecause
it standfora scientific
to comparative
foreignpolicyphenomenado not lend themselves
set
and distinguishable
analysis?Or does it designatean important
be subjectedto extended
thatcan usefully
phenomena
ofempirical
foreignpolicy,in short,a fad,a fanIs comparative
examination?
tasy,or a field?
In somerespectsit is all oftheseand thepurposeof thispaper
in orderto minimize
the fad and fantasydimensions
is to identify
thefield
as thefieldevolves.Although
and contradiction
confusion
hopefullyan assessmentof its inception
is barelyin its infancy,
FrederickA. Praeger,1966); and James N. Rosenau, Of Boundariesand
of Nationaland
Bridges:A Reporton a Conferenceon the Interdependencies
InternationalPolitical Systems(Princeton: Center of InternationalStudies,
ResearchMonographNo. 27, 1967).
Relationspanels at the
4 Cf. the papers preparedfor the International
Annual Meeting of the AmericanPolitical Science Association,September
1966.
5 See, for example,KennethN. Waltz, Foreign Policy and Democratic
Politics: The Americanand BritishExperience(Boston: Little, Brown and
and Consensus: A
Co., 1967), and WolframF. Hanrieder,"Compatibility
Proposalforthe ConceptualLinkage of Externaland InternalDimensionsof
ForeignPolicy,"AmericanPoliticalScience Review,59 (1967), pp. 971-82.
6 In the 1966 listing(AmericanPoliticalScience Review,60, pp. 786-91),
carried titlesthat suggestedresearchon topics involving
nine dissertations
studyof foreignpolicy.
the comparative
7 Duringa recenttwo-weekperiodthe presentwriterreceivedsuch invipublishers,each of whom was unawareof what
tationsfromthreedifferent
the otherswere doing.
VOLUME
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JAmES
N. ROSENAU
and an attempt
to identify
its boundariesand problemswill,even
at thisearlystage,lessenthe growingpains thatlie ahead.
I. The sourcesof reorientation
That thefad,thefantasy,
and thefieldare all of recentorigin
can be readilydemonstrated.
Traditionally,
the analysisof foreign
policyphenomenahas consistedof a policy-oriented
concernwith
particular
situations
facedby specificnations.Thusthesinglecase,
limitedin timebyitsimportance
to therelevantactorsand in scope
by theimmediacy
of itsmanifest
repercussions,
has dominatedthe
literature
fordecades.8Attempts
to contrast
twoor moreempirical
cases have been distinctexceptionsand have been narrowly
confinedto the problemof whetherdemocraciesor dictatorships
are
likelyto conductthemselves
moreeffectively
in the international
arena.9Even thosepoliticalscientists
in the earlypostwarera who
explicitly
soughtto renderforeignpolicyanalysismoresystematic
by focusingon decision-making
processesdid notmovein a comparativedirection.
The decision-making
approachto foreignpolicy
calledattention
to a hostofimportant
variablesand greatlydiminishedthelong-standing
tendency
to positnationalactorsas abstract
entitiesendowedwithhumancapacitiesand qualities.But,in deof
mandingthatforeignpolicybe analyzedfromthe perspective
concreteand identifiable
decision-makers,
t-heapproachalso tended
of
thatthe perspectives
to precludeexamination
of the possibility
decision-makers
in different
societiesmightbe similar,or at least
the 1950sand well intothe 1960s,
comparable.Thus,throughout
the newlydiscovereddecision-making
variablesservedto improve
the qualityof the case histories
ratherthanto replacethemwith
new modesof analysis.10
To be sure,theimmediate
postwarperioddid notlack attempts
to generalizeabout the processeswherebyany societyformulates
and conductsitsforeign
ofRichard
policy.In additionto theefforts
8 For an elaboration
of this point,see my "Pre-Theoriesand Theoriesof
ForeignPolicy,"in R. BarryFarrell,ed., op. cit.,pp. 31-37.
9 See, forexample,Carl JoachimFriedrich,ForeignPolicyin the Making
(New York: W. W. NortonCo., 1938) Chaps. 1-4.
10 For an extendedattemptto assess the impactof the decision-making
approachon the studyof foreignpolicy,see my "The Premisesand Promises
of Decision-Making
Analysis,"in JamesC. Charlesworth
(ed.), Contemporary
PoliticalAnalysis(New York: The Free Press,1967), Chap. 11.
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JAMES
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attempted
to identify
thesimilarities
and differences
uncoveredby
the separate,but juxtaposed,analyses of several policymaking
systems.
Ironically,
in fact,the one textthatused theword"comparative"in connection
with the studyof a foreignpolicy also
explicitlyraised doubts about the applicabilityof this formof
analysis:in the firsteditionof thisworkthe introductory
chapter
on the "ComparativeStudy of ForeignPolicy"was writtenby
GabrielA. Almond,who notedthe "lack of the mostelementary
knowledge"about foreignpolicyphenomenaand concludedthat
"it will be some time beforerigorousand systematic
therefore
Even more ironically,
the comcomparisonbecomespossible."'15
parable chapter of the second edition of the same text, written
four years later by Kenneth W. Thompson and Roy C. Macridis,
INTERNATIONAL
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303
FOREIGN POLICY
constitutional
regimes,28
bureaucracies,29
subsystems,80
military
all themajorinstitutions,
elites,3'and so on,through
and
processes,
ofpolities.As thecomparative
movement
personnel
gainedmomenit generatedefforts
tum,moreover,
to clarifythe methodological
problemsposedby thenew orientation32
and,moreimportantly,
to
providecomparable
dataformostorall ofthepolitiesextant.88
Like
all majormovements,
the trendtowardcomparative
analysisalso
evokedprotestsand denunciations
of its legitimacy.34
If theultimatepurposeof politicalinquiryis the generation
of
testedand/ortestabletheory,thenthisupheavalin comparative
politicshad alreadybegunto yieldsolidresultsby the mid-1960s.
One couldlookonlywithwonderment
upon theprogressthathad
28 RobertC. Tucker,"On the Comparative
World
Studyof Communism,"
Politics,19 (1967), pp. 242-57.
29 LaPalombara,op. cit.,and FerrelHeady, PublicAdministration:
A ComparativePerspective(Englewood Cliffs,N.J.: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1966).
30 HerbertJacob and KennethN. Vines, eds., Politics in the American
States:A ComparativeAnalysis(Boston: Little,Brownand Co., 1965); Frank
Munger,ed., AmericanStatePolitics:ReadingsforComparativeAnalysis(New
York:ThomasY. CrowellCo., 1966); and Lewis A. Froman,Jr.,"An Analysis
of Public Policiesin Cities,"Journalof Politics,29 (1967), pp. 94-108.
31 MorrisJanowitz,The Militaryin the Political Developmentof New
of Chicago
Nations:An Essay in ComparativeAnalysis(Chicago: University
ed., The Role of the Militaryin Underdeveloped
Press,1964); JohnJ.Johnson,
Press,1962); and SydneyNettleCountries(Princeton:PrincetonUniversity
ton Fisher,ed., The Militaryin the Middle East: Problemsin Societyand
Press,1963).
(Columbus: Ohio State University
Government
32 Cf. RichardL. Merrittand Stein Rokkan,eds.), ComparingNations:
Research(New Haven: Yale
The Use of QuantitativeData in Cross-National
UniversityPress, 1966), passim; ArthurK. Kalleberg,"The Logic of Comparison: A MethodologicalNote on the ComparativeStudy of PoliticalSystems,"World Politics,19 (1966), pp. 69-82; SigmundNeumann,"Comparative Politics:A Half-Century
Appraisal,"Journalof Politics,19 (1957), pp.
369-90; SigmundNeumann,"The ComparativeStudyof Politics,"Comparative
Studiesin Societyand History,1 (January1959), pp. 105-12; Michael Haas,
"ComparativeAnalysis,"WesternPoliticalQuarterly,15 (1962), pp. 294-303;
and HarryEckstein,"A Perspectiveon ComparativePolitics,Past and Present,"
in HarryEcksteinand David E. Apter,eds., ComparativePolitics:A Reader
(New York: The Free Press,1964), pp. 3-32.
33 See ArthurS. Banks and Robert B. Textor,A Cross-PolitySurvey
(Cambridge: The M.I.T. Press, 1963), and Bruce M. Russett,Hayward R.
Alker,Jr.,Karl W. Deutsch, and Harold D. Lasswell, World Handbook of
Press,1964).
Politicaland Social Indicators(New Haven: Yale University
84 Leslie Wolf-Phillips,"Metapolitics:Reflectionson a 'Methodological
Revolution,"'PoliticalStudies,12 (1964), pp. 352-69.
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JAMES N. ROSENAU
occurredin a decade'stime:notonlyweredatabeinggatheredand
broadnewways,buta varietyofstimulating,
processedin entirely
domestic
and empiricallybased models of
gauged, systematic,
politicalprocessesin generalizedtypesof politieshad made their
Curiously,
however,foreignpolicypheway intothe literature.35
nomenawerenotcaughtup in thesetidesof change.None of the
muchless any of the new conceptualfornew empiricalfindings,
dealtwiththeresponsesofpolitiesand theirinstitutions,
mulations,
eventsand trends.For
processes,and personnelto international
was comparedbut foreverything
reasonssuggestedelsewhere,"6
and onlybelatedlyhave studentsof comeignpolicyphenomena,
the need to makeconceptual
parativepoliticseven acknowledged
variablesupon domestic
allowancefortheimpactof international
processes.37
35 For example,see GabrielA. Almondand C. BinghamPowell,Jr.,ComparativePolitics:A DevelopmentApproach(Boston: Little,Brown and Co.,
1966); David E. Apter,The Politicsof Modernization(Chicago: University
of Chicago Press,1965); Louis Hartz, et al, The Foundingof New Societies
(New York: Harcourt,Brace and World,1964); RobertT. Holt and JohnE.
Turner,The Political Bases of Economic Development:An Explorationin
ComparativeAnalysis(Princeton:D. Van NostrandCo., 1966); and A.F.K.
Organski,The Stages of PoliticalDevelopment(New York: AlfredA. Knopf,
1965).
36 JamesN. Rosenau (ed.), Linkage Politics:Essays on the Convergence
of Nationaland International
Systems(New York: Free Press,forthcoming),
Chap. 1.
37 The conference
thatoccasionedthispaper,along withthe one thatled
to the volumeeditedby R. BarryFarrell (op. cit.), is one of the few efforts
to examinenational-international
relationships
organizedby studentsof domesticpoliticalsystems.For anotherbelatedacknowledgment
of the relevance
of international
variables,see Almondand Powell (op. cit.), pp. 9, 203-04.
Actually,in all fairnessit should be noted that some years ago Almonddid
of the domesticpoliticalsystem
acknowledgethatstudiesof "the functioning
. . .have commonlyneglectedthe importanceof the international
situation
theformof thepoliticalprocessand the contentof domesticpublic
in affecting
policy .
. .
of the multiparty
functioning
systemsof the Scandinaviancountriesand those
of France and Italy are to be attributedto internaldifferences
in culture,
economics,and political and governmental
structure,or whetherthey are
in the 'loading' of these systemswith difficult
attributable
to the differences
and costlyforeignpolicyproblems,or whetherboth and in what proportions"
(in Macridis,op. cit., 1958, pp. 4-5). In his ensuingpioneeringworkson
domesticsystems,however,Almonddid not followthe line of his own reasoning.Not even his highlygeneralstructural-functional
modelof the political
process,presentedtwo years later in The Politicsof the DevelopingAreas,
made conceptualroomforthe impactof international
variablesor the funcINTERNATIONAI.
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306
of
routeto comprehension
of worldpolitics.The decolonization
sub-SaharaAfricawas especiallycrucialin thisrespect.The resultsocial
ing nationalactorswereso similarin size,culturalheritage,
and stage of economicdevelopcomposition,
politicalstructure,
system
ment,and the problemstheyfaced in the international
werethusso parallel,thatthe analysisof theirforeign
policiesvirAt least thiswould seem to be the
tuallycompelledcomparison.
mostlogicalexplanation
forthefactthatmanyof the earlyefforts
about foreignpolicy fromthe
to derivetheoreticalpropositions
comparative
analysisof empiricalmaterialsfocusedon Africain
politiesin general.40
particular89
and underdeveloped
of Red
era and theemergence
The adventofthethermonuclear
China as a buddingand recalcitrant
of
superpower
are illustrative
in foreign
anotherhistorical
trendthathas fostered
a reorientation
of problemsthatare worldpolicyanalysis,
namely,theemergence
in
and
As
wide scope.
more
moresituationshave arisentoward
whichall nationalactorsmustnecessarily
takea position,analysts
witha policy-oriented
concernhave becomeincreasingly
inclined
thereactionsand policiesof nationsthat
to juxtaposeand contrast
theypreviously
treatedas singlecases. Manyanalysesof the 1963
thecontinuing
nucleartestban treaty,
problemof nuclearproliferaofa nuclearcapability
are obvious
tion,and theChineseacquisition
ofChina'semergence
implications
examples.Indeed,theworldwide
resultedin whatis probablythefirst
workto focuson an
recently
immediate
policyproblemby analyzinghow a numberof different
nationalactorsare inclinedto respondto it.41
II. The studyof comparative
foreignpolicyand the comparative
studyofforeignpolicy
of analyticmodesneveroccurswithouta period
Reorientation
thatis oftenslow and difficult.
and adjustment
of transition
Apthestudyofforeign
Some
policyis notto be an exception.
parently
39 See, for example,McKay, op. cit., and Doudou Thiam, The Foreign
Policyof AfricanStates:IdeologicalBases, PresentRealities,FutureProspects
(New York: FrederickA. Praeger,1965).
40 For a particularly
effort
of thiskind,see HenryA. Kissinger,
stimulating
"Domestic Structureand ForeignPolicy,"Daedalus, 95 (Spring 1966), pp.
503-29.
41 A. M. Halpern,ed., Policies Toward China: Views fromSix Continents
(New York: McGraw-HillBook Co., 1965).
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of the earlychangessuggestthatthereorientation
is based partly
upona headlongand ill-considered
rushto getaboardthecomparative bandwagon.Perhapsbecause the intellectualand historic
factorsthathave fosteredchangeconvergedand reinforced
each
otherin sucha shortspan of time,littlethought
has been givento
whatcomparison
entailsin relationto foreignpolicyphenomena.
"Afterall,"somestudentsof foreign
policyseemto say,"thecomparativepeopleare doingit,whyshouldn't
we?"What"it"is in this
context,
however,is rarelyexaminedand is oftenassumedto involveno morethanthejuxtaposition
of theforeign
policyphenomena oftwoor moresystems.
Whataspectsof foreign
policyshould
be compared,how theyshouldbe compared,whytheyshouldbe
suchas these
compared,
whether
theycan be compared-questions
are notraised.Rather,havingpresumedthatsimplyby juxtaposing
suchphenomena
an endeavorcalled"comparative
foreign
policy"is
established,
manyanalystsproceedin theaccustomedmannerand
as a case
examineeach unitof thejuxtaposedmaterialsseparately
history.
A good illustration
of thecontinuing
predisposition
to settlefor
juxtaposition
without
comparison
is providedbytheaforementioned
workonhowmorethansixteendifferent
nationalactorsare inclined
to respondto Communist
China.42Despitethe abundanceof comparable materialmade available by the commonfocus of the
variouschapters,
neitherthe editornorthe authorssaw fitto contrastsystematically
the relativepotenciesof the variablesunderlyingresponsesto China.Instead,each of the sixteensubstantive
chaptersdeals withthe policiesof a different
countryor region
and concluding
towardChina,and theeditor'sintroductory
chapters
withpresenting
an overviewof China
are concerned,
respectively,
that were revealedto
all the differences
itselfand summarizing
the workconsistsof sixteen
underliepoliciestowardit. In effect,
separatestudiesconveniently
broughttogetherin one place.43
In short,comparative
foreign
policyhas to someextentbecome
a newlabelforan old practice.It is in thissense-in thesensethat
is madeto comparative
reference
analysiswithoutadherenceto the
Ibid.
see myreviewof thebookin
of thisassessment,
For an elaboration
26 (1967), pp. 287-88.
TheJournal
ofAsianStudies,
42
43
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Strictly
speaking,therefore,
it makesa difference
whetherone
definesoneselfas engagedin the comparativestudyof foreign
policyor in the studyof comparative
foreignpolicy.The former,
it is arguedhere,is a legitimateand worthwhile
enterprise
that
may well lead to the formation
of a disciplinedfieldof inquiry,
whereasthelatteris an ambiguouslabel thatservesto perpetuate
a
fad ratherthanto establisha field.
Stillanotherkindof confusion
has arisenoutof theinitialburst
of enthusiasm
fora moresystematic
approachto the analysisof
foreignpolicyphenomena,
namely,a tendencyto positsuch phenomenaas encompassing
the entirerangeof actionsand interactionsthroughwhichthe interdependence
of nationsis sustained.
Justas thisever-increasing
has stimulated
interdependence
analysts
at foreign
to lookmorecarefully
policy,so has it spurreda greater
concernwithlinkagesbetweennationaland international
political
systems.Also referred
to as "transnational
politics"or "nationalinternational
interdependencies,"
theselinkagesare seen as comprisingall thewaysin whichthefunctioning
ofeach typeofpolitical system
is a consequenceoftheother.46
Whiletheforeign
policy
and linkageapproachesoverlapin important
ways,theyare not
identical.The latteris broaderthantheformer
and can be viewed
it. Foreignpolicyphenomenacomprisecertainkinds
as subsuming
relatethemselves
to all or
of linkages,thosein whichgovernments
partof the international
systemthroughthe adoptionof purposefulstancestowardit,but thereare othermajorkindsin whichthe
actorsor by the unlinksmaybe fashionedby nongovernmental
action.Theseotherkinds
intentional
ofgovernmental
consequences
of linkagescan, of course,be highlyrelevantto the formulation,
conduct,and consequencesof foreignpolicy,but theyemanate
fromand are sustainedby a set of processesthatare analytically
separablefromthe processesof foreignpolicy.Yet, impressedby
the extentto whichnationalsystemshave become pervadedby
externalstimuli,someanalyststendto emphasizethe factthatin
to these stimulithe nationalsystemis responding
to
responding
of Individual and Role Variables in the Behaviorof U.S. Senators,"in J.
Politics:Insightsand Evidence
David Singer,ed., QuantitativeInternational
(New York:The Free Press,1968), pp. 17-50.
46 For an elaboration
of thisconception,see my LinkagePolitics,op. cit.,
Chap. 3.
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JAMES N. ROSENAU
elements"foreign"
to it,an emphasiswhichleads to the erroneous
equation of national-international
linkageswith foreignpolicy
phenomena.47
III. Tracingtheoutlinesofa field
To note thatforeignpolicyphenomenainvolvegovernmental
undertakings
directedtoward the externalenvironment
neither
justifies
treatingthemas a separatefieldof inquirynor indicates
wherethe boundariesof such a fieldlie. While it is possibleto
arguethatthe comparative
studyof foreignpolicyis a subfieldof
politicalsciencebecause manypoliticalscientistsresearchsuch
mattersand see themselvesas engagedin a commonenterprise
whentheydo so, plainlya,fieldmusthave an intellectual
identity
For a fieldto exist,
apartfromthe activitiesof its practitioners.
presumably
it musthaveitsowndiscipline-itsownsubjectmatter,
itsownpointofview,and itsowntheory.
In theabsenceof a subject matterwithan internalcoherenceof its own,of a viewpoint
thatstructures
thesubjectmatterin uniqueways,and of a bodyof
thathave not been or cannotbe derived
theoretical
propositions
thesubject,researchers
can never
fromanyotherwayofstructuring
be surewhetherin facttheyare engagingin a commonenterprise.
on highly
Undersuchcircumstances,
theymayactuallybe working
diverseproblemsthatshareonlytlle labels thatare attachedto
them.Whatis regardedas "thefield"maybe no morethana comthatoverlapin somerespects
positeof severaldifferent
enterprises
and proposibut thathave distinctive
subjectmatters,
viewpoints,
tionsof theirown.
Thus it is conceivablethatthe comparativestudyof foreign
policyis nota fieldat all. Perhapsthesearchforitssubjectmatter,
willyieldtheconclusionthatit is best
and propositions
viewpoint,
ofnationaland international
viewedas a composite
politics-asthe
one
concernof two fields, treating
appropriate
foreignpolicypheofnationalpolitical
variablesin theoperation
nomenaas dependent
variablesin theoperationof
and theotheras independent
systems
Needlessto say,it wouldmakematinternational
politicalsystems.
tersmucheasier if a separatefieldcould not be delineatedand
47 See Hanrieder,op. cit.,and my critiqueof thisarticle,AmericanPolitical Science Review,59 (1967), pp. 983-88.
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undertake
efforts
to modify
circumstances
in theirexternal
environments.The second,or implementive,
stageconsistsof theactivities,
conditions,
and influences
through
whichthestimuli
oftheinitiatory
stageare translated
intopurposeful
actionsdirectedat modifying
objectsin theexternalenvironment.
The third,or responsive,
stage
thatcomprisethe
denotestheactivities,
and influences
conditions,
reactionsof the objects of the modificationattempts.48The three
stages so defined encompass,respectively,the independent,inter-
former
includeanyhumanor nonhuman
and
activities,
conditions,
influences
operativeon the domesticscene thatstimulategovernmentalofficials
to seek,on behalfof thenationalactor,to preserve
or altersome aspectof the international
system.Examplesof internalindependent
variablesare elections,
groupconflicts,
depleted
hisoil reserves,
demandsforhighertariffs,
geographicinsularity,
toricvalueorientations,
a lackofsocietalunity,executive-legislative
all thediversefactorsthatcontribute
frictions,
and so on, through
48 This three-stage
formulation
of foreignpolicy sequences derivesfrom
a conception,elaboratedelsewhere,which posits certainkinds of effortsto
modifybehavior,togetherwith the modifications
that do or do not subsequentlyensue,as the essenceof politicalbehavior.Cf. my CalculatedControl
as a UnifyingConcept in the Study of InternationalPolitics and Foreign
Policy (Princeton:Centerof International
Studies,ResearchMonographNo.
15, 1963).
49 The use of the word "undertaking"
throughout
is intendedto emphasize thatby "foreignpolicy"is meantconsiderably
morethanmerepronouncementsindicatingpresentor futurelines of action. Such a designationhelps
to remindus thatforeignpolicycan arise out of complexsourcesand require
the mobilizationof complexresourcesas well as lengthyand continuouseffortsto bringabout modifications
of situationsand conditionsin the external
environment.
Stateddifferently,
it seems insufficient
to describeforeignpolicy
solelyin decisionalterms.The centralunitof actionis too multi-dimensional
to be seen as merelya choicethatofficials
make amongconflicting
alternatives.
By the time officialshave mobilizedresourcesin supportof theirdecisions
and coped withthe responsesof thosetowardwhomthedecisionsare directed,
is no longerenoughto describethe actionin whichthe anadecision-making
lystis interested.
For officials
to translatethe stimulito externalbehaviorinto
that
behaviorintendedto be effective
externally
requiresa vast undertaking
encompassesmanydecisionsby manypeople. Hence it seemsdesirableto use
nomenclature
thatis descriptiveof the complexityand scope of the behavior
beingexamined.
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JAMESN. ROSENATu
thedependent
variablescan be dividedintotwomajortypes,those
thatinvolvean alterationor preservation
of behaviorinternalto
and thosethatpertain
theobjectoftheforeign
policyundertaking
to the object'schangedor unchangedexternalbehavior.Again a
numberofobviousexamplescan be cited.The readinessof another
actorto enterintoand/orconcludenegotiations,
the inclination
to
complywithor resistdemandsforsupporton issuesin the United
or weakeningof an allianceexemNations,and the strengthening
plifyexternaldependentvariables.The abilityor inabilityto put
armiesintothe fieldas a consequenceof military
assistance,the
and theemergence
continuance
ordownfall
ofa hostilegovernment,
ofan old one as a result
or thepersistence
ofa newsocialstructure
of circumof a multi-faceted
foreignaid programare illustrative
variables
internal
whentreated
as
stancesthatwouldbe
dependent
evertheybecomethefocusof foreign
policyundertakings.
The fieldof foreign
policyis thusseen to covera vastrangeof
can arisewhereby
Circumstances
phenomena.
virtually
everyaspect
of local, national,and international
politicsmay be part of the
or responsive
initiatory
stageof theforeignpolicyprocess.Indeed,
offoreign
theforegoing
examplesindicatethatstudents
policymay
oftenbe led by theirsubjectmatterto move beyondpolitical
in theothersocialsciences.They
scienceto investigate
phenomena
mayevenfindthemselves
investigating
phenomenain the physical
sciences.This mightoccur,forexample,if the foreignpolicyunof interestaim to modifythe externalenvironment
dertakings
by
for depletedoil reserves.To comprehendthe becompensating
or complianceof the
haviorofthenationalactorand theresistance
actorsabroadwhoseoil depositsmakethemthe objectsof modifimustacquire some familiarity
cationattempts,
with
investigators
and economyof discovering,
thegeology,technology,
mining,and
oil.50
transporting
50 Of course,all of thisis not to say thatthe individualstudentof foreign
policy should or can be so broad-gaugedas to be able to handle all the
phenomenathat fall withinhis puirview.We have been tracingthe outlines
of a fieldto be probedby manypersonsand not of a researchdesignto be
implementedby one. Plainly the diversityand range of materialsencompassed by the fieldare too greatforone analystto masterfully.On the other
mustbe capable of communicating
the individualresearcher
hand,presumably
withthemanytypesof specialiststo whomhe may have to turnforguidance
thatlie outsidehis competence.
on thoseaspectsof undertakings
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onlyto
theothertwo.For himforeignpolicybecomesintelligible
the extentthatits sources,contents,
and consequencesare considof thefield.No other
eredjointly.This is thedistinctive
viewpoint
fieldconcernsitselfwiththeassociationbetweenvariableson both
sides of national boundaries. The phenomena embraced by this
associationare the ones that always remainunexplainedeven after
to their
thefieldsofnationaland international
politicsare stretched
limits.Studentsof national (or comparative)politicshave no
theoretical
justification
forsustaining
an interestin foreignpolicy
once thebehavioralsequencesit initiatesare extendedintotheexallowance
ternalenvironment.
Althoughslow to make theoretical
forthepoint,theydo have a vitalconcernwiththeinternalconseand withthe
quencesoftheprocessesof foreign
policyformulation
whichforeign
feedbackeffects
thatmayresultfromthealterations
The
policyundertakings
bringabout in the externalenvironment.
responsivestageitself,however,lies outsideof the scope of their
field.Similarly,
foundations
of internanothingin the theoretical
for
tionalpoliticsprovidesstudentsof thatfieldwithjustification
probingthe sourcesof foreignpolicythatare locatedwithinnational actorsor the responseto foreignpolicy undertakingsthat are
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politicsforguidancein manipulating
theexternalindependent
and
dependentvariablesof theinitiatory
and responsive
stages.Yet,by
virtueof combining
theoryabout domesticand international
processes,foreignpolicytheoryis neitherdomesticnorinternational
theory.
It bearsthesamerelationship
to thesealliedfieldsas social
psychological
theorydoes to psychology
on theone hand and sociologyon the other."'Like social psychology,
it alone consistsof
propositions
thatrelatethe behaviorof an actorbothto its own
and to its environment.
functioning
The list of foreignpolicy
theorists
is notlongand containsno namescomparableto Lewin,
Hovland,Newcomb,Asch,or Festingerin social psychology,
but
presumably
thisis due to thefactthatthereorientation
towardthe
comparative
analysisofforeign
policyhas justbegunratherthanto
an inherent
inabilityof the fieldto supportits own unique body
of theory.
IV. Someunderlying
assumptions
Havingtracedin bold strokes
theoutlineof thefield,somefiner
touchesare in order.A numberof problemsrequirefurther
discussion.Perhapsthemostimportant
oftheseis thequestionof why
theresponsivestagemustbe partof foreignpolicyanalysis.Why
not treatgovernmental
decisionsas the dependentvariablesand
bypasstheresponsive
stage?Afterall, it mightbe argued,aspects
oftheinternational
systemare beingtakenintoaccountas external
independentvariables-whymusttheyalso be regardedas dependentvariables?If thefocusis on the nationalactorin relation
to its environment,
whyis it necessaryto investigatethe consequencesof foreignpolicyundertakings
forotheractors?Furthermore,how is one to knowwhetherthe presumedor modifiedbehaviorthatconstitutes
theresponsive
stageis in facta responseto
the foreignpolicyundertaking
beingexamined?Are therenot insurmountable
methodological
problemsinherentin the task of
separatingresponsesto externalinfluences
frombehaviorgeneratedby otherfactors?
51 For a discussionof how the distinctiveness
of social psychologyis not
diminisheddespitethe large extentto whichit borrowsfrompsychology
and
sociology,see Theodore M. Newcomb,Social Psychology(New York: The
DrydenPress, 1950), Chap. 1; and MortonDeutsch and RobertM. Krauss,
Theoriesin Social Psychology(New York: Basic Books,Inc., 1965), Chap. 1.
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The centrality
of the responsivestage is unquestionably
the
mostradicalconclusionof our effort
to tracethe outlinesof the
foreign
policyfield.Probablybecauseoftheenormous
methodological difficulties
theypose, responsesto foreignpolicyare usually
examinedwithmuchless care thanare the variablescomprising
theinitiatory
and implementive
stages.Ordinarily
analyststendto
in which
settlefora briefaccountof theinternational
environment
thenationalactoris located,notinganylimitations
and opportunitiesthattheenvironment
mayimposeand offer,
and thenmoving
on to examinewhatthe actorseeksto accomplishin thisenvironmentand why.53
The problemof sortingout the consequencesof
fromthe eventsthatwould have ocforeign
policyundertakings
curredanywayis so awesomethat,in effect,
the responsivestage
is ordinarily
viewedas consisting
of constants
ratherthanvariables.
Yet,herewe are insisting
thatit cannotbe bypassed,thatit is a
centralaspectof the field,and thatthe methodological
obstacles
mustbe confronted
and surmounted.
Severalreasonsand one assumptionunderliethis insistence.
The assumption-perhaps
bettercalled an articleof faith-is that
themethodological
problemis at least theoretically
solvable.Difintended
betweenresponses
ferentiating
by politicalactorsand
thosethatwouldhave occurredanywayis the centralproblemof
politicalanalysisand hauntsresearchin all areas of the discipline.
Yet it has notdeterredinquiryintothe responsesof votersto canto interest
didates,of legislatures
groups,of bureaucracies
to leaders.Why,then,shouldit blockthe analysisof attempts
to modify
maticAnalysis,and ScientificConsciousnessin ForeignPolicy Research,"in
AustinRanney,ed., PoliticalScience and Public Policy (Chicago: Markham,
1968), Chap. 9.
53 Interestingly,
worksconcernedwith national
and perhapssignificantly,
to the international
actorspassingthroughperiodsof dynamicreadjustment
systemstand out as exceptionsto this generaltendency.Recent workson
postwarGermany,forexample,are notablefor the equal attentionthat they
the foreignpolicy
of all threeof the stagescomprising
pay to the interaction
field.Cf. Karl W. Deutschand Lewis J.Edinger,GermanyRejoinsthe Powers:
GermanForeign
Mass Opinion,InterestGroups,and Elites in Contemporary
Policy (Stanford: StanfordUniversityPress, 1959); James L. Richardson,
Germanyand the AtlanticAlliance: The Interactionof Strategyand Politics
(Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1966); and WolframF. Hanrieder,
Pressureand Domestic
West GermanForeignPolicy,1949-1963: International
Press,1967).
Response(Stanford:StanfordUniversity
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There is anotherimportant
advantagein the notionthat the
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be treatingthe antecedents
so, however,theywould nevertheless
variables.They would stillbe asking
of decisionas independent
thatoccurredpriorto decisionwere associated
whethervariations
Hence it seemspreferable
withthosethatoccurredsubsequently.
stage directlyratherthan indirectly
to examinethe initiatory
That is, since assessing
throughthe perceptionsof officialdom.
it
difficult,
the strengthof causal factorsis at best extremely
to make the task that of first
complicating
seems unnecessarily
determining
how others(officials)assessthe relevantfactorsand
may not reBesides,officials
thenassessingthese assessments.55
in
the variations
construct
theworldin sucha way as to highlight
with
in correlating
stagethattheanalystis interested
theinitiatory
in theresponsive
stage,in whichcase he wouldhave to
variations
approachanyway.The procedureof
foregothe decision-making
does not,however,neglect
stagedirectly
focusingon theinitiatory
perceiveand experiencethe world
the factthatthe way officials
is crucialto theactiontheytake.It willbe recalledthatthedimenby the
sionsof purpose,timing,and stylegivento undertakings
are
stimuli,
the initiating
experience
way in whichdecision-makers
stage.Furthervariablesin theimplementive
treatedas intervening
processitselfthatopermore,thoseaspectsof thedecision-making
forprestige,power,or
stimuli(e.g. competition
ate as initiatory
are regarded
personnel)
and
their
among
agencies
appropriations
as independent
variablesand analyzedaccordingly.
behaviorservesas an
Turningto thequestionofwhypurposeful
focusof the foreignfield,it mustfirstbe emphasized
organizing
morethanthefactthatofficials
thatby "purpose"is meantnothing
do not act at random.Theyalwayshave somegoal in mind,some
notionofhow theactiontheytakewillhelpto preserveor modify
The goals
environment.
one or moreaspectsof the international
need notbe highlyconcreteor rational.Nor need theybe integral
our conceptionof goals
partsof an overallplan. On the contrary,
and not fullyformed.
tentative,
allowsforthemto be ambiguous,
Theymightamountto no morethan"stallingfortime"or be no
They mightwell be
clearerthanan effort
to "muddlethrough."5"
55 For an elaborationof this point,see my "The Premisesand Promises
ed., op. cit.
Analysis,"in JamesC. Charlesworth,
of Decision-Making
56 Althoughpolicymakingdesigned to "muddle through"situationsis
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and
by businessmen,
scientists,
artists,
ment.Othersare established
tourists,
to namebuta fewofthemanytypesof privateindividuals
span nationalboundaries.These
and groupswhose interactions
linkagescan be so relevant
cultural,
social,economic,
and scientific
to theprocessesofforeign
policythattheanalystmayoftenfindit
and/ordependentvariappropriate
to treatthemas independent
In themselves,
however,suchlinkables operativein undertakings.
policyanalyst.He is interested
agesarenotofinterest
to theforeign
in the nationalactor,notin subnational
actors-in publicindividuals or groups,notin privateones.Statedin anotherway,the foreign policyanalystis concernedwiththe linkagesthatthe entire
society,ratherthan segmentsof it, establisheswith the external
can link the personneland reenvironment.
Only governments
abroadand this,to repeat,
sourcesoftheentiresocietyto situations
governments
always do for some purpose.On the otherhand,
whether
linkagesare or are notintendedby those
nongovernmental
who sustainthem,thereis a limitbeyondwhichtheycannotbe
purposes.Up to a pointtravelcan be
controlled
by governmental
and othertypesof exand so can tradeand scientific
forbidden,
is perceptual,
change.But,if onlybecausesomeof theinteraction
ties.
government
cannotarrogateto itselftotalcontroloverexternal
Hence, fromthe perspectiveof the nationalactor,the linkages
establishedby subnationalgroupsor by individualsare not purare the
the actionsof governments
poseful.Fromthisperspective,
of theentiresociety.This
onlygoal-oriented
externalundertakings
characteristic
distinguishes
foreignpolicyfromall othernationalinternational
linkages.
V. Whycompare?
There remainsthe problemof what questionsforeignpolicy
theoryis designedto answer.As impliedearlier,theforeignpolicy
and functional
chalanalystis notfacedwiththekindsof systemic
in the nationaland internalengesthatimpresshis counterparts
tionalfields.Foreignpolicytheorycan neverin itselfexplainwhy
and how a nationalsystemmanagesto persistor whyand how it
recollapses.Such theorycan shed lighton one of the functional
all
national
of
of
systems-thenecessity adaptingto
quirements
itdoesnotpretendto deal withthefullrange
theenvironment-but
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JAMES
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ofintegrative
mechanisms
through
whichnationalsystems
maintain
theirinternal
coherence.
Thus it can neverprovidemorethanpartial answersto the intriguing
questionsof systemicpersistence.
Similarly,
the enduranceor deterioration
of international
systems
lies outsidethe competenceof the foreignpolicytheorist.
By explainingwhyand how one or morenationalactorsinteractwith
theirenvironments,
foreignpolicy theoryprovidessome of the
materialneededfora functional
analysisof international
systems,
it
the
of
but does notaddressitselfto thesumof
separatepatterns
interaction
maintained
actorsand thusthe studentof
by different
foreignpolicymustagain standaside whenthe fascinating
questionsof systemic
stability
and changeare posed by his colleagues
in the international
field.
It is exactlyat thispointthatforeignpolicytheorists
run the
for
riskof engagingin unrealistic
Thosewhoseaspirations
fantasy.
foreignpolicytheoryincludethe capacityto explainand predict
systemiccoherenceand collapseare bound to be thwarted.The
is worthy,
butneithercan ever
is enticing
fantasy
and theaspiration
be realized.Foreignpolicyis theonlyfieldthatrelatesthebehavior
and to its own funcof a nationalactorbothto its environment
that
a
is
the
boundariesof the
but thepriceof such focus
tioning,
fielddo notcorrespond
to thoseof any empiricalpoliticalsystem.
can be judged as functional
While a foreignpolicyundertaking
forthe nationalsystemthat undertakesit and
or dysfunctional
or dysfunctional
functional
forthe international
systemwithrethereis no concrete"foreign
spect to whichit has consequences,
forwhichits functionality
can be assessed.
policysystem"
What,then,are thetheoretical
challengesposed by theforeign
policyfield?The answeris thatthechallengesare endlessifaspirationsare scaled downto thelevel of middle-range
theoryand not
castin systemic
termsat thehighestlevel of generalization.57
The
questionis paralyzingonlyif the foreignpolicyanalystwantsto
construct
broad-gaugedmodelsthataccountforthe dynamicsof
57 The distinction
betweenmiddle-range
and generaltheoriesis best describedby RobertK. Merton,who notes that the formerare "intermediate
evolvedin abundanceduringthe day-by-day
to the minorworkinghypotheses
routinesof research,and the all-inclusivespeculationscomprisinga master
conceptualschemefromwhichit is hoped to derivea verylarge numberof
empiricallyobserveduniformities
of social behavior,"in Social Theoryand
Social Structure(Glencoe,Ill.: The Free Press,1957, revisededition),pp. 5-6.
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merelyrelyon thestructures
fromwhichtheirownauthority
is derivedto inducecompliance.The foreignpolicyofficial
is the only
politicianwhoseactionsare directedtowardpersonsand situations
thatare normally
responsive
to culturalstandards,
historical
aspirations,and sourcesof authority
that are different
fromhis own.
Hence theforeign
policyundertaking
is themostdelicateof political actionsand themostfragileofpoliticalrelationships.
It involves
a degreeofmanipulation
ofsymbolsthatis unmatched
in anyother
politicalsituation.
It requiresa balancebetweentheuse of persuasionon the one hand and theuse or threatof forceon the other
thatis moreprecariousthanit is in any otherkindof politics.It
revealsthe limitsof legitimacy,
the sourcesof loyalty,and the
dynamics
of bargaining.
It demonstrates
theinertiaofhabitas well
as thecontinuities
to whichhabitualbehaviorgivesrise.It exposes
the
the universality
of resistanceto changeand, correspondingly,
largeextentto whichchangecan be introduced
onlyin smallincrements
at themarginsof organizedlife.
In short,the fieldof foreignpolicycontainsthe promisethat
of politicswillbe examinedin its purest
virtually
everydimension
form.In a profoundsense the challengeof foreignpolicytheory
is at themiddle-range
levelhardlylessthanthatofempiricalpolitical theoryitself.Thereis no problemthatthe empiricalpolitical
theorist
it be thatof authority,
confronts-whether
law, influence,
commuresponsibility,
federalism,
rationality,
order,sovereignty,
nity,leadership,communications,
or revolution-thatcannotbe
fruitfully
investigated
in the foreignpolicyfield.59
The otherclearlyidentifiable
set of theoretical
challengesarises
out of theaforementioned
notionthatforeignpolicyundertakings
an adaptivefunction
Generalsystems
perform
fornationalsystems.
analysismay lie beyondthe scope of the foreignpolicytheorist,
but the functional
problemsposed withinthe area of his concern
are nonethelesscompelling.Even thoughnationalsystemsmay
internalreasons,theycannotpersistwithout
collapseforstrictly
and this never-ending
copingwith theirenvironments
effortto
5D For an elaborationof the notionthat the quintessenceof politicscan
be foundin the foreignpolicyfield,see my CalculatedControlas a Unifying
Conceptin the Studyof International
Politicsand ForeignPolicy,p. 16, and
my "ForeignPolicyas an Issue-Area,"in JamesN. Rosenau (ed.), Domestic
Sourcesof ForeignPolicy (New York: Free Press 1967), passim.
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