The Common Denominator: A Critical Review of Theoretical Approaches to Foreign Policy Analysis

The main question that motivated this review was if there existed a common denominator or a common string that ran through the fabric of the varying approaches to foreign policy analysis (FPA).  In fact, there is.  This review critically surveyed the most important of these FPA approaches, and traced that string.  As observed in those approaches, the search is continuously for the subjective view of the decision-maker, which has primacy over the objective view of the analyst.  Classic rationality has been the backbone of FPA for a long time, so a close critique was accorded to it.  Over the years, classic rationality has been discredited, as completely unrealistic for human decision making, and was thus replaced by bounded rationality.  As a result, the rational choice approach is no longer the antithesis of the gist of the cognitive approach.  In that light, the once-opposites unite.  The study also reviews other alternative cognitive-heuristic approaches that emerged as a reaction to the discrediting of the rational actor model.  Moreover, realizing that the leader’s belief system emerged as prime, it became very important to uncover the leader’s belief system.  As such, the most salient of the relevant cognitive approaches were critically reviewed, and one was chosen to be the most useful.