What Is Foreign Policy

Foreign policy is a phrase that gets used frequently, tossed about by journalists, law makers, and politicians as they debate and explain items as varied as resolutions to conflicts, peace keeping missions, foreign aid, and international trade. But what is ‘foreign policy’ and how does it affect us on a daily basis?

Every country has its own foreign policy, though not each country’s policy necessarily reflects that of its neighbors, friends, and foes. Rather, each government chooses a set of guidelines that it believes best serves its own interests, both at home and abroad. Because different governments function in different ways, and because some countries have strengths, weaknesses, needs, and desires that others do not, there is no all-encompassing foreign policy that governs the world as a whole.

Foreign policy is basically a set of rules created by a government that manage the relationship between that country and others, as well as non-state actors such as non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations. Foreign policy is generally handled by heads of state. As an example, the foreign policy of the United States is said to safeguard the American public, both physically and financially. The US foreign policy outlines the focus of active conflicts, the need to halt production of nuclear weapons, and peace-keeping actions and diplomacy, but also details items such as the need to work globally to improve climate change and find alternative methods of energy consumption. Not surprisingly, the UK and many countries in the European Union have similar policies, though with slight differences that more closely reflect their needs. For instance, while US foreign policy outlines the need to strengthen US leadership in Latin American, the United Kingdom is obviously less concerned in this arena.

In days gone by, foreign policy was generally kept private. After the Second World War, foreign policy has become much publicized, with most democratic governments making their policies widely available for public consumption, with heads of state having access to the needs and priorities of their friends and allies. With the advent of the Internet, nearly anyone in the populace is privy to foreign policy of the most powerful countries inthe world.