A country's foreign policy, also called foreign relations or foreign affairs policy, consists of self-interest

strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve goals within its international
relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries. The study of
such strategies is called foreign policy analysis. In recent times, due to the deepening level of globalization
and transnational activities, the states will also have to interact with non-state actors. The aforementioned
interaction is evaluated and monitored in attempts to maximize benefits of multilateral international
cooperation. Since the national interests are paramount, foreign policies are designed by the government
through high-level decision making processes. National interests accomplishment can occur as a result of
peaceful cooperation with other nations, or through exploitation. Usually, creating foreign policy is the job of
the head of government and the foreign minister (or equivalent). In some countries the legislature also has
considerable effects. Foreign policies of countries have varying rates of change and scopes of intent, which
can be affected by factors that change the perceived national interests or even affect the stability of the
country itself. The foreign policy of a country can have profound and lasting impact on many other countries
and on the course of international relations as a whole, such as the Monroe Doctrine conflicting with the
mercantilism policies of 19th-century European countries and the goals of independence of newly formed
Central American and South American countries.

What is the importance of foreign policy?

Foreign Policy is like having dietary guidelines when you have a goal such as losing weight. It doesn't matter
what the goal is, but the guidelines will get you there if you stick to them - and if you don’t have any
guidelines, you’ll never achieve your goal. Of course, you need some flexibility in certain situations if you
expect to meet your goal without losing everything important to you: for example, you know that you'll need
to decline cake from a distant friend if you’re avoiding sugar (a close friend would either eat it for you or not
ask in the first place) but if your boss offers you a slice of his wife’s cake, you may try it (at least for
appearences), knowing you can cut something out of your diet later that day or work it off at the gym.

In other words, foreign policy, while it isn't “the goal” - it is still the guiding means to achieve a nation’s
interests long term (and it should be flexible enough to still help a nation achieve them while navigating
various circumstances with other nations). This is why having a (at least vaguely) defined foreign policy is
important. Good advisors and leaders understand this and possess the strategic diplomatic skills necessary to
develop and maintain it.

FOREIGN POLICY