Comparative Foreign Policy: Adaptation Strategies of the Great and Emerging Powers - Softcover

Hook, Steven W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130887897 ISBN 13: 9780130887894

Publisher: Pearson, 2001

Synopsis

The first comprehensive, cross-national study of foreign policies to be published in the aftermath of the Cold War. Using a consistent format, leading area specialists discuss the strategies employed by five "great powers" and five "emerging powers" to accommodate the rapid changes taking place around them. In all ten cases, major developments since the Cold War--including domestic upheavals and crises--have produced important consequences that extend far beyond their borders. Each chapter tells a distinct story of foreign policy adaptation, and collectively, they tell much of the story of world politics in this volatile era. New Challenges In U.S. Foreign Policy. Russia's Times Of Trouble. European Union Foreign Policy: Still An Oxymoron? Modernization, Nationalism, And Regionalism In China. Japanese Foreign Policy: Buying Power. The Foreign Policy Of Modern Brazil. The Shifting Landscape Of Indian Foreign Policy. Indonesia: From Pivot To Problem. Iran's Ambivalent World Role. South Africa: From The Shadows. For anyone interested in contemporary foreign policy worldwide.

About this title

About the Author

STEVEN W. HOOK is Associate Professor of Political Science at Kent State University. His books include American Foreign Policy since World War II, with John Spanier (15th edition, 2000), National Interest and Foreign Aid (1995), and the anthology Foreign Aid toward the Millennium (1996). His authored and co-authored articles have been published in World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Asian Survey, European Security, Democratization, and other journals. He is currently chair of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is designed to provide students of world politics with a comprehensive yet concise overview of the foreign policies of ten "great and emerging powers" in the early twenty-first century. The chapters, written by leading area specialists, focus on the strategies devised by these powers to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of the post-Cold War era. As the authors find, the end of the Cold War in 1991 greatly affected the calculations of foreign-policy makers. But their policy responses have, to varying degrees, incorporated many other developments in the international system. These include the widespread adoption by national governments of democratic norms and institutions, accelerating technological and economic integration, the emergence of non-state actors as key players in world politics, and the recognition of transnational problems such as environmental decay and weapons proliferation. All these developments have greatly complicated the task of making foreign policy, a distinctive arena of governance in which internal and external pressures converge and must be reconciled.

The following chapters seek to advance the comparative study of foreign policy by viewing these trends in cross-national perspective and by confronting the central theme of foreign-policy adaptation through a common analytic framework. The chosen adaptation strategies are considered in their historical context so that readers may identify recurring patterns from the past and identify their manifestation in current foreign-policy behavior. Further, each author considers the primary governmental and non-state actors involved in the policy-making process, the foreign-policy issues of greatest concern, and the status of key bilateral and multilateral relations.

The authors present their analyses in a clear and straightforward composition style that is most suitable to a readership of advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional researchers. Footnoting is therefore limited, with readers being drawn to related studies through extensive parenthetical citations. In this regard, we hope the master bibliography at the end of the book serves as a valuable reference for further study. Finally, to ensure that this book is truly comparative, every opportunity has been taken to cross-reference the chapters and highlight common patterns and findings.

Taken together, the chapters illustrate the divergent ways foreign-policy makers have sought to accommodate the rapid pace of change with-in the international system during the first post-Cold War decade. As we will find, these strategies achieved their stated goals in some instances, failed in others, and produced ambiguous results in still others. Domestic divisions and crises frequently stymied creative adaptation strategies, forcing attention away from widely recognized international problems and opportunities. For better or worse, the foreign policies of these great and emerging powers have had inescapable consequences—not only for the attainment of their immediate self-interests but also for the resolution of long-term collective problems at the regional and global levels. This snap-shot of foreign-policy adaptation, therefore, may well illuminate the prospects for global relations far into the future.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, the editor and authors of this book acknowledge the work of the late Roy Macridis, whose eight editions of Foreign Policy in World Politics enlightened many generations of students and served as a role model for this book. In this respect, we are pleased that Robert Scalapino, whose analyses of Japanese foreign policy appeared in the Macridis editions, represents a symbolic bridge between the two books. The political science editors at Prentice Hall have enthusiastically supported this continuing effort to present a comprehensive, cross-national review of foreign-policy adaptation. In particular, Beth Gillett Mejia played a decisive role in launching the new project, while Heather Shelstad, Laura Pearson, and Kari Callaghan Mazzola provided invaluable editorial supervision. We also express our gratitude to David Skidmore of Drake University, who provided instructive critiques of individual studies and the book's main themes during the 2001 annual meetings of the International Studies Association. At Kent State University, the research assistance of Jim Bralski, Jeremy Lesh, and Guang Zhang is greatly appreciated. Finally, the project has benefited greatly from the guidance provided by the following reviewers: Sebastian Royo of Suffolk University and Ralph G. Carter of Texas Christian University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0130887897
• ISBN 13: 9780130887894
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288