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American Foreign Policy

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American Foreign Policy
Providing Examples (of BOTH events and individuals) explain the degree to which the personality and mental state of decision-makers impose themselves onto the foreign policy of states and how is this explained by our study of Foreign Policy

Word Count: 3,071

Ryan Baldry
INR 6415: Foreign Policy Analysis
Dr. James D. Boys
5th November 2013
The aim of this essay is to analyse three individuals who have all shaped foreign policy in their own, very distinct ways; Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger. Firstly, this paper will discuss the state of mind of Tony Blair throughout his premiership and just before he won leadership of the Labour Party. As well as this, the concept of Blair’s ‘Messianic’ complex will also be analysed to discover the degree to which that affected any, if not all, of his foreign policy decisions. Secondly, this paper will discuss the way in which Margaret Thatcher’s unique position affected her decisions with specific focus on the Falklands invasion and her motives for not allowing the island to fall. Thirdly, this paper will discuss the ways in which Henry Kissinger carried out his role as NSA advisor, and later Secretary of State, under the Nixon administration. There will be a specific analysis of Kissinger’s thought process and they ways in which this would have had an impact on the way in which he worked. The question of whether Kissinger was carrying out US foreign policy or a version of his own will also be discussed. Finally, this essay will conclude with an analysis of how there are a number of different factors which can all have a substantial impact upon an individual, regardless of how insignificant they may at first appear.

To properly be able to understand the topic of foreign policy decision making, it is crucial that we are first able to understand the individual at the centre of that process. It has been suggested by some theorists that the state is the base level


Bibliography: Campbell, Alastair. The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries. London: Random House, 2007. Dallek, Robert. Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power. London: Penguin, 2007. Dyson, Stephen Benedict. "Personality and Foreign Policy: Tony Blair 's Iraq Decisions." Foreign Policy Analysis 2 (2006): 289-306. Hermann, Margaret G. "Explaining Foreign Policy Behaviour Using the Personal Characteristics of Political Leaders." International Studies Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing) 24, no. 1 (March 1980): 7-46. Hill, Christopher. "The Blair Effect: The Blair Government 1997-2001." In Foreign Policy, by Anthony Seldon, 332. London: Little, Brown & Company, 2001. Ipsos MORI. Conservative Leader Image. September 11, 2013. http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemID=58&view=wide (accessed November 1, 2013). Parker, Robert J. British Prime Ministers. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2013. Rothkopf, David. Running the World. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006. Siniver, Asaf. Nixon, Kissinger and U.S. Foreign Policy Making: The Machinery of Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Starr, Harvey. "The Kissinger Years: Studying Individuals and Foreign Policy." International Studies Quarterly 24, no. 4 (1980): 465-496. Sticha, Paul J. , Dennis M. Buede, and Richard L. Rees. It 's the People, Stupid: The Role of Personality and Situational Variables in Predicting Decisionmaker Behavior. Thesis, Human Resources Research Organisation, Alexandria: MORS, 2006, 1-16. Suri, Jeremi. Henry Kissinger and the American Century. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. "Defence Programme." The Defence Budget 1983. Speech. Prod. The National Archives. London, June 25, 1981. Watkins, Alan. A Conservative Coup: The Fall of Margaret Thatcher. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, 1992.
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