State Identity in Foreign Policy Decision-Making - Research Paper Example

Identity in Foreign Policy Decision-Making Extended topic: The Role of Identity in Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Soliciting global support in the fight against terror Short topic: State Identity in Foreign Policy Decision-Making Statement of the Problem There are several levels and fields that international relations exist. On the whole, international relations can be said to be an area of study that borders on relationships that exist among countries through the roles of sovereign states, international governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and multinational corporations. In the current study, the researcher focuses on a problem that borders on the level of sovereign states and the sub-field of foreign policy decision-making. This problem has to do with the identification of the role that state identity plays in foreign policy decision-making and how this role can be used to promote the first against terrorism. The motivation behind the research problem is the current unguarded actions of the Islamic State (ISIS) group and the approach being taken by the United States in soliciting global support in fighting the group. The research problem therefore gives particular attention to what the state identity of the United States has been over the years and how such an identity affects the country’s foreign policy decision-making on combating terror, especially against the ISIS. The geographical scope of the study is very large, spanning across all nations considered to be allies of the United States (US) in this fight, and the United States itself. Terror may be seen as an old and ongoing problem but the time frame for the problem reflects on the state identity developed by the US in its fight against terror in Afghanistan and how this state identity affects the success rate of getting any support in the fight against ISIS. This means that the time frame will span from 2002 when the US invaded Afghanistan to 2014 when it launched its first air strike on ISIS camp. The subject study is the fight against terror. Literature Review State of current status of literature As far as the researcher’s current topic is concerned, it can be said that there are two major divisions in literature, which are those that have worked on state identity and those that have worked on the fight against terror. Very little connection is created between the two and so this creates a gap in literature, for which the current study seeks to bridge. In the following subsections of the literature review, a number of publications on very important themes developed from the research topic are reviewed. The rationale behind the selection of the sources used varies from one source to the other. On the whole however, it would be seen that most of the sources raise questions that are directly reflected in the current research problem. At some point, there are disagreements with the explanations of the sources on the topic but such disagreements are important in identifying diverse opinions on the topic. Most of the sources however support the researcher’s explanations and form a conceptual framework for the study. Methodology is however not a factor influencing the selection of the sources as content prevails over methodology at this point. Below is a brief explanation of how significant the sources are for the main topic of the research. The US state identity on terror fighting Adib-Moghaddam noted that there are three distinct types of identity, which are personal, social and collective. In the context of the current study, the emphasis of review is on collective identity as that is what is broad enough to capture the actions of the state (232). As far as the US state identity on terror fighting is concerned, there are two major schools of thought that are noted in literature in terms of how the identity is labeled. In one school of thought, the US is said to embrace what is known as ontological security approach in its fight against terror (Meernik 400). With such ontological security, the country is said to build a security of the self. By implication, the US has been focused on a fight against terrorism that seeks to promote the personal security of that country rather than the collective security of the globe (Wither 54). Alden cited how most forms of terror attacks have personally targeted the US and its citizens and justified the ontological security state identity developed by the US (99). In another school of thought, Hermann and Kegley argued that with the place of the US in the world order today, there cannot be a way by which the country’s fight against terror can be personalized as developing into a security of the self (101). In effect, the ontological security state is rejected based on the argument that the eradication of terrorism, even if it is done with the sole aim of protecting American means that there will be a reduction in terror activities and that the entire world will benefit from this (Adib-Moghaddam 35). In effect, this school of thought holds that the US’s state identity on terror fighting is physical security that seeks to champion universal eradication of terror. In the opinion of Finnemore, the US has constantly showed commitment to the fight against terror from a globalised perspective and this is seen in its support against terrorism on other countries other the US (21). Huntington also opined that for any foreign policy decision-making that seeks to get the whole world backing a decision to succeed, it is important to gain favor from the international community (470). This favor is however said to be achieved when there has been sufficient evidence to support the claim that a country’s fight against terror is not self-centered (Stuart and Starr 6). How state identity affects international support search The issue of US foreign policy is widely discussed in literature. In the current study however, there is specific emphasis on current foreign policy decision-making where by the US has adopted a new approach to the fight against ISIS. Over the months, the international media has captured meetings between the US secretary of state, John Kerry and other international leaders on how to seek support against ISIS. A recent one was when Mr. Kerry was in Indonesia to seek Asian support (Brunnstorm). This new foreign policy decision-making can be likened to what Callinicos described as an alliance based foreign policy of the US, whereby the country has repeatedly showed divisions as to which countries the US align with and which ones it does not (432). This is because there is long standing history as to how the US foreign policy has used covet actions in toppling foreign governments that the country is opposed to (Stuart and Starr 26. Through such covet actions, the country has continuous received forms of international labeling, most of which seek to prove a point that the US may never successfully cooperate with such countries in foreign policy decision-making (Huntington 469). Very specific to the fight against ISIS, Walker has identified a situation whereby Russia has vehemently opposed the existing efforts of the US, based on long standing disagreement between the two countries. Finnemore stressed that in international relations, state identity plays very important role in determining how well one country may market itself to others, especially when the need to seek international support arises (63). On the part of Alden (43) however, the most important point of discussion on state identity and international support search has to do with the form of support being solicited. From this perspective, the fight against terrorism can be seen to be a topic that is very important to most countries. An attempt by a country such as the US to solicit global support for such a course is thus expected to come with very little references to what the US’s state identity is. Callinicos however seem to disagree with this proposition, citing very strong opposition that the US has received in most of its terror fights (430). Indeed, in the current instance, there could be most countries that may not be clear on what they will be giving their support to the US for in its current foreign policy decision-making. This is because some of these countries may be wondering whether the US may be pursuing a personal agenda against the ISIS as part of its ontological security approach or it may genuinely be pursuing a physical security with the need to bring universal crackdown on terror. Research Design The current paper serves as a major contribution to literature review as it addresses a very sensitive topic in international relations, which can be said to be widely discussed, but at times wrongly approached. From the review performed above and other forms of preliminary search of literature undertaken, it can be seen that the issue of state identity is one that is widely known as part of international relations and more specifically, foreign policy (Wither 50). However, there is a clear gap in finding literature that seeks to link this all important issue to the fight against terrorism. Reviewing literature on the fight against terrorism, it is seen that most of the approaches taken by past researchers have been to look at how effective individual national approaches to the fight has been (Meernik 395). Once this is done, the fight against terrorism is made distant from international relations because there ought to be some form of relationships taking place in the fight against terrorism before it can be said that the issues have been linked to international relations. This study contributes to literature by bridging this gap in research because it fails to look at the United States in isolation but looks at how the country’s state identity over the years in its fight against terror affects its approach to gaining global support in the fight against ISIS. To effectively undertake the study and ensure that its contribution to literature is achieved, it is important to have a delimitation that clearly defines exactly what the researcher wants to achieve in the study. This is done with the use of research questions, where the research questions serve as a guide for data to be collected. By this, the implication is that forms of data that do not seek to directly address the research questions shall not be pursued in the study. Based on the research problem therefore, the following research questions are posed: 1. How does the international community perceive United States’ identity in the fight against terrorism from 2002 till date? 2. In what ways does the international community’s perception affect the United States’ foreign policy decision to solicit global support in the fight against ISIS? From the research questions developed above, it is hypothesized that the United States’ identity on the fight against terror will have a negative effect on its foreign policy decision to solicit support from the global community in the fight against ISIS. Data collection towards the achievement of the research aim and answering the research questions shall be performed in the form of a qualitative research method. This means that the researcher shall be engaged in the systematic description of social phenomenon and try to give meaning to the phenomenon (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 57). In this context, the social phenomenon to be systematically described is the fight against terror and how international relations play a part in this fight. More specifically, the methodological approach or research design to be used will be grounded theory. Through grounded theory, the researcher will be offered the opportunity of developing theory by formulating, testing and redeveloping hypothesis (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 56). The grounded theory is expected to involve the use of constant comparative processes by comparing events and activities that have taken place within the time frame set for the study. Data collection shall also focus largely on record review, whereby both primary and secondary literature sources shall be reviewed. Works Cited Adib-Moghaddam, Arshin. The International Politics of the Persian Gulf: A Cultural Genealogy. London: Routledge, 2006. Print. Alden, Chris. Foreign Policy Analysis: Understanding the Diplomacy of War, Profit and Justice. London: Routledge, 2008. Print. Brunnstrom, David. Kerry in Indonesia seeking Asian support against Islamic state. 2014. Web. October 27, 2014 Callinicos, Alex. “Marxism and the International”, The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 6.3 (2004): 426–433. Print. Finnemore, Martha. National Interests in International Society. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006. Print. Hermann, Margaret G. and Kegley, Charles. "The U.S. Use of Military Intervention to Promote Democracy: Evaluating the Record". International Interactions 24.2 (2008): 91–114. Huntington, Samuel P. “The Clash of Civilisations”, Foreign Affairs 72.3 (2013). 464-489. Print. Meernik, James. "United States Military Intervention and the Promotion of Democracy". Journal of Peace Research 33.4 (2006): 391–402. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. 2003. Print. Stuart, Douglas and Starr, Harvey. "The Inherent Bad Faith Model Reconsidered: Dulles, Kennedy, and Kissinger". Political Psychology 3.4 (2011): 1–33. Walker, Shaun. Vladimir Putin blames US for Islamist terrorism and Ukraine conflict. 2014. Web. October 27, 2014 Wither, James. "An Endangered Partnership: The Anglo-American Defence Relationship in the Early Twenty-first Century". European Security 15.1 (2006): 47–65. Read More