Foreign Policy Decision Making

DECISION- MAKING IN FOREIGN POLICY

Decision-making in foreign policy involves the analysis and assessment of past and current data, in the light of our past experience and that of others, who had dealt with similar situations, in order to identify the need and available options for action in the future and the likely implications of each of those options for the protection and promotion of our national interests.
Foreign policy has four aspects---political, internal and external security-related, economic including commercial, and societal, which has a bearing on our society as well as those of others. A successful conduct of foreign policy protects and advances our national interests and contributes to the preservation and enhancement of our status and power, without being unduly detrimental to the national interests, power and status of others. It seeks to avoid conflicts and, where this is not possible, to minimise the likely damage to our national interests, power and status.
The process of decision-making in foreign policy has become more complex than in the past due to the following reasons:
* The emergence of ethical issues such as human rights, democracy, disarmament etc as important components of the political aspect of foreign policy.
* The greater focus on non-political aspects such as economic, environmental etc.
* The new complexities of the security aspect due to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the never-diminishing threats from trans-national religious and other terrorist groups and narcotics smuggling gangs to national and regional security.
* The trend towards greater trans-nationalisation of the decision-making process due to the impact on the process of a country's membership of international and regional organisations.
* The increasingly assertive role of national and trans-national non-State actors such as the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), think tanks etc in seeking to influence the process.
* The...