Foreign Policy Analysis

About

This module introduces you to the study of foreign policy within International Relations. You will examine how foreign policy decisions are formed and how international, domestic, and individual-level factors shape state behaviour. You will explore the instruments available to policymakers and the strategies states use to pursue their objectives, while engaging with major concepts and theoretical approaches that explain why states and foreign policy leaders act as they do.

You will consider key debates in the field, including questions of ethical foreign policy and the role of leadership in shaping external behaviour. Teaching combines discussion of core concepts and theories with their application to selected states and international organisations. The module begins with an overview of the main theoretical paradigms and key concepts in Foreign Policy Analysis before moving to empirical debates and case studies

Course leader

Dr Bugra Susler

Course aim

This module aims to:

- Introduce students to the International Relations sub-field of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA).
- Provide a critical understanding of how states formulate and implement foreign policy, and the key theories and concepts used in FPA.
- Help students think through, both theoretically and empirically, how to explain foreign policy decision-making.
- Develop students' ability to engage critically with the scholarly literature on FPA.
- Train students to analyse empirical cases of foreign policy through class discussions and written assignments, with the aim of informing theoretical and policy debates, and to make, substantiate and defend complex arguments.
- Strengthen skills in understanding and discussing conceptual issues and theoretical debates; applying concepts and theories to empirical cases; providing policy advice; and writing essays.
- Build communication skills through presentations and class debates

Fee info