Previous Issues
Volume :45 Issue : 3 2017
Add To Cart
Download
Revolutions and Foreign Policy Change: A Theoretical Study
Auther : Mohamed S. Tayie
The research problem of the study seeks to analyze the impact of revolutions on foreign policy change on two levels: first, the revolution as a determinant (reason) to change its foreign policy, and second: the revolution and its impact on the forms and patterns of change in foreign policy. The study draws its importance from being concerned with the analysis of the interactive relationship between two variables that combine two fields of political sciences, the first variable: the "revolution" (the independent variable) which is inherent in the field of comparative politics, and the second variable: the "change of foreign policy" (the dependent variable) which belongs to the field of international Relations. Hence, the study comes at a joint intersection area between the two fields, which means that it is an interdisciplinary study, which also represents the embodiment of the phenomenon of "internationalization of domestic politics" or what is known as "the foreign dimensions of internal affairs".
The methodological framework of this study depends on four pillars: Firstly: the theoretical survey of the literature relevant to "foreign policy change"; secondly: the inductive method; thirdly: the observation; and fourthly the (Foreign Policy System Analysis Approach). The study concluded that there is a correlation between the revolution and foreign policy change, as revolution induces change in one or more of the variables of the internal environment of the political system (such as a change in: leadership, elite, ideology, democratic transition), and then, incremental or structural change takes place in foreign policy. The pattern of change in foreign policy (incremental or structural change) after the revolution depends on a number of variables including: the degree of compatibility between the new political forces, the compatibility between the new ruling elites, the openness of those elites on public opinion, the extent of compatibility in the form of new civil-military relations, and the extent of institutional process of foreign policy-making and its independence.
Keywords: Revolution, Foreign policy, Foreign policy change, Foreign policy restructuring, Revolutionary foreign policy.