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Title: The Foreign Policy Decision-Making Approaches and Their Applications: Case Study: Bush, Obama, and Trump’s Decision Making towards Afghanistan and the Region
Published on: The Rest Journal of Politics and International Development, CESRAN International
Link: https://therestjournal.com/2019/07/31/the-foreign-policy-decision-making-approaches-and-their-applications
In this article, I examine the long-standing tension between International Relations (IR) theories and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), particularly regarding what truly drives foreign policy decision-making. Drawing on my own research into US policy towards Afghanistan under the Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrations, I argue that FPA’s focus on human decision-makers may offer a more nuanced and practical analytical framework than state-centric IR theories alone.
The article provides a concise introduction to FPA, explains how it differs from IR, and offers guidance on applying decision-making approaches, sources, and methods, while also critically assessing the limits of FPA beyond Western contexts.