The Concept of Foreign Policy Actions in Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The author's argument is that the unit of analysis in the comparative study of foreign policy stands in need of closer taxonomical examination with reference to certain logical, philosophi cal and methodological considerations. He proposes the concept of 'foreign policy actions' as the pertinent analytic unit in this area of inquiry, and then proceeds to examine its constituent elements in order to unfold a delimitation of this concept in terms of its specific denotative and connotative properties. This involves a discussion of, respectively, the notions of 'action', 'policy' and'foreign', and pari passu of the various elements which can be said to characterize each and which together constitute the formal definition which is proffered at the end of the article. The purpose of this classificatory exercise is to argue for a unit of analysis which - in addition to begin philosophically cognizant- seeks to combine definitional inclusiveness with empirical specificity, that is to say, a concept which fuses the extensional requirements of the comparative method with differentiae in such a way that it will make the explanation of foreign policies in the form of empirical generalizations both feasible and meaningful.