Amir Abbad - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Amir Abbad

Research paper thumbnail of Foreign Policy Analysis: Actor-Specific Theory and the Ground of International Relations

Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analy... more Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analysis, it is clear that this subfield provides what may be the best conceptual connection to the empirical ground upon which all international relations (IR) theory is based. Foreign policy analysis is characterized by an actor-specific focus, based upon the argument that all that occurs between nations and across nations is grounded in human decision makers acting singly or in groups. FPA offers significant contributions to IRFtheoretical, substantive, and methodologicalFand is situated at the intersection of all social science and policy fields as they relate to international affairs. A renewed emphasis on actor-specific theory will allow IR to more fully reclaim its ability to manifest human agency, with its attendant change, creativity, accountability, and meaning.

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Richard L. Merritt (ed.), Foreign Policy Analysis. (Lexington and London: D. C. Heath Ltd., 1975. viii and 164 pp.  7{middle dot}75.): James Barber, Who Makes British Foreign Policy?

Millennium-journal of International Studies, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of The Study of Soviet Foreign Policy: Ideology and Foreign Policy Analysis

Millennium-journal of International Studies, 1976

Page 1. http://mil.sagepub.com International Studies Millennium - Journal of DOI: 10.1177/0305829... more Page 1. http://mil.sagepub.com International Studies Millennium - Journal of DOI: 10.1177/03058298760050030401 1976; 5; 282 Millennium - Journal of International Studies Jonathan Haslam Analysis ...

Research paper thumbnail of Discussions and Reviews : Respectability, theory, and foreign policy analysis: a review Raymond A. Bauer and Kenneth J. Gergen (eds.), The Study of Policy Formation New York: Free Press, 1968. Pp. 380. $9.95. Joseph Frankel, The Making of Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Decision Making

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1969

Research paper thumbnail of U.S. Presidential Decisions on Ozone Depletion and Climate Change: A Foreign Policy Analysis

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2008

The overarching question this paper addresses is whether and, if so, to what extent can existing ... more The overarching question this paper addresses is whether and, if so, to what extent can existing IR theories commonly associated with high politics decision making be applied to low politics issue areas, specifically international environmental policy. The paper serves to test poliheuristic theory against two case studies, The Montreal Protocol and The Kyoto Protocol, to assess its ability to explain the decision-making processes of four United States presidents. The paper concludes that poliheuristic theory adequately explains the presidents’ behavior in virtually all cases. It is especially effective in explaining the first phase of the decision-making process. The paper also suggests in the conclusion that a president’s “environmentalness” may affect his decision-making behavior in the first phase.

Research paper thumbnail of Book Reviews : Sage International Yearbook of Foreign Policy Studies. Volume I. Edited by PATRICK J. McGOWAN. (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1973, Pp. 336. $7.00.) The International Yearbook of Foreign Policy Analysis, Volume I. Edited by PETER JONES

Political Research Quarterly, 1976

Research paper thumbnail of Event Data in Foreign Policy Analysis

My thanks to Harold Guetzkow for providing an extensive collection of early WEIS memoranda, to De... more My thanks to Harold Guetzkow for providing an extensive collection of early WEIS memoranda, to Deborah J. Gerner and Juliet Kaarbo for helpful suggestions on the empirical literature, and to the editors of this volume for their comments on an earlier draft.

Research paper thumbnail of A Foreign Policy Analysis of the "German Question": Ostpolitik Revisited

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2008

Taking a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis and using German policy vis-à-vis Pol... more Taking a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis and using German policy vis-à-vis Poland and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic as an example, we examine Ostpolitik since the 1960s as a case of a norm-driven foreign policy. We argue that the content of Ostpolitik, including changes over time, can be explained by reference to a prevailing norm consensus in Germany about the country’s foreign policy toward Central and Eastern Europe, which began to develop in the 1960s.

Research paper thumbnail of The Paramount Importance of Cultural Sources: American Foreign Policy and Comparative Foreign Policy Research Reconsidered

Cooperation and Conflict, 1987

The author notes that there are two "worlds" of foreign policy analysis: the quantitati... more The author notes that there are two "worlds" of foreign policy analysis: the quantitative world of comparative foreign policy and the qualitative world of largely non-cumulative and single-case foreign policy studies. A major division concerns the inclusion of "intangibles", of which the "cultural factors" behind a nation's foreign policy may be considered at the core. The article points to the need for theoretically focused comprehensive studies with few cases as a way of bridging these two "worlds", and as a fruitful approach to theory-construction. With American foreign policy as one case, the author demonstrates how cultural sources should be considered a major source component of foreign policy. He then reviews how cultural/societal sources, broadly speaking, have been treated in the comparative foreign policy field and notes that while the "foreign policy events" school largely ignores cultural sources, the theorizing of James N. Rosenau, over a twenty-year period, has come to recognize such sources as fundamental. This, the article notes, seems to be linked to the definition of the dependent variable: foreign policy defined as "behavior" or discrete acts versus "orientation" (cf. K. J. Holsti). Rosenau's "adaptation model" as reformulated by Nicolaj Petersen is subsequently used to demonstrate how cultural/societal sources are of paramount importance when analyzing foreign policy defined as "orientation". The author concludes by proposing a three-level hierarchical definition of foreign policy as (1) foreign policy orientation, (2) sectorial foreign policies/programs of action, and (3) foreign policy behavior. A model is set up which hypothesizes a strong causal relationship between cultural/societal forces and foreign policy orientation and between situational/contextual factors and foreign policy behavior respectively. This fits in with a probabilistic relationship between policy as a "standard used in the making of decisions" and foreign policy behavior as discrete acts, and provides a perspective which helps explain issues related to consistency.

Research paper thumbnail of Foreign Policy Analysis: Actor-Specific Theory and the Ground of International Relations: Foreign Policy Analysis

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2005

Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analy... more Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analysis, it is clear that this subfield provides what may be the best conceptual connection to the empirical ground upon which all international relations (IR) theory is based. Foreign policy analysis is characterized by an actor-specific focus, based upon the argument that all that occurs between nations and across nations is grounded in human decision makers acting singly or in groups. FPA offers significant contributions to IR—theoretical, substantive, and methodological—and is situated at the intersection of all social science and policy fields as they relate to international affairs. A renewed emphasis on actor-specific theory will allow IR to more fully reclaim its ability to manifest human agency, with its attendant change, creativity, accountability, and meaning.

Research paper thumbnail of The European Challenge to Foreign Policy Analysis

European Journal of International Relations, 1999

... 3. National foreign policy refers to the separate foreign policies of member states which hav... more ... 3. National foreign policy refers to the separate foreign policies of member states which have continued to exist and indeed to thrive in the 1990s in the absence in practice of a common (single) European foreign policy. What ...

Research paper thumbnail of Foreign Policy Analysis: Actor-Specific Theory and the Ground of International Relations

Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analy... more Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analysis, it is clear that this subfield provides what may be the best conceptual connection to the empirical ground upon which all international relations (IR) theory is based. Foreign policy analysis is characterized by an actor-specific focus, based upon the argument that all that occurs between nations and across nations is grounded in human decision makers acting singly or in groups. FPA offers significant contributions to IRFtheoretical, substantive, and methodologicalFand is situated at the intersection of all social science and policy fields as they relate to international affairs. A renewed emphasis on actor-specific theory will allow IR to more fully reclaim its ability to manifest human agency, with its attendant change, creativity, accountability, and meaning.

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Richard L. Merritt (ed.), Foreign Policy Analysis. (Lexington and London: D. C. Heath Ltd., 1975. viii and 164 pp.  7{middle dot}75.): James Barber, Who Makes British Foreign Policy?

Millennium-journal of International Studies, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of The Study of Soviet Foreign Policy: Ideology and Foreign Policy Analysis

Millennium-journal of International Studies, 1976

Page 1. http://mil.sagepub.com International Studies Millennium - Journal of DOI: 10.1177/0305829... more Page 1. http://mil.sagepub.com International Studies Millennium - Journal of DOI: 10.1177/03058298760050030401 1976; 5; 282 Millennium - Journal of International Studies Jonathan Haslam Analysis ...

Research paper thumbnail of Discussions and Reviews : Respectability, theory, and foreign policy analysis: a review Raymond A. Bauer and Kenneth J. Gergen (eds.), The Study of Policy Formation New York: Free Press, 1968. Pp. 380. $9.95. Joseph Frankel, The Making of Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Decision Making

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1969

Research paper thumbnail of U.S. Presidential Decisions on Ozone Depletion and Climate Change: A Foreign Policy Analysis

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2008

The overarching question this paper addresses is whether and, if so, to what extent can existing ... more The overarching question this paper addresses is whether and, if so, to what extent can existing IR theories commonly associated with high politics decision making be applied to low politics issue areas, specifically international environmental policy. The paper serves to test poliheuristic theory against two case studies, The Montreal Protocol and The Kyoto Protocol, to assess its ability to explain the decision-making processes of four United States presidents. The paper concludes that poliheuristic theory adequately explains the presidents’ behavior in virtually all cases. It is especially effective in explaining the first phase of the decision-making process. The paper also suggests in the conclusion that a president’s “environmentalness” may affect his decision-making behavior in the first phase.

Research paper thumbnail of Book Reviews : Sage International Yearbook of Foreign Policy Studies. Volume I. Edited by PATRICK J. McGOWAN. (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1973, Pp. 336. $7.00.) The International Yearbook of Foreign Policy Analysis, Volume I. Edited by PETER JONES

Political Research Quarterly, 1976

Research paper thumbnail of Event Data in Foreign Policy Analysis

My thanks to Harold Guetzkow for providing an extensive collection of early WEIS memoranda, to De... more My thanks to Harold Guetzkow for providing an extensive collection of early WEIS memoranda, to Deborah J. Gerner and Juliet Kaarbo for helpful suggestions on the empirical literature, and to the editors of this volume for their comments on an earlier draft.

Research paper thumbnail of A Foreign Policy Analysis of the "German Question": Ostpolitik Revisited

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2008

Taking a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis and using German policy vis-à-vis Pol... more Taking a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis and using German policy vis-à-vis Poland and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic as an example, we examine Ostpolitik since the 1960s as a case of a norm-driven foreign policy. We argue that the content of Ostpolitik, including changes over time, can be explained by reference to a prevailing norm consensus in Germany about the country’s foreign policy toward Central and Eastern Europe, which began to develop in the 1960s.

Research paper thumbnail of The Paramount Importance of Cultural Sources: American Foreign Policy and Comparative Foreign Policy Research Reconsidered

Cooperation and Conflict, 1987

The author notes that there are two "worlds" of foreign policy analysis: the quantitati... more The author notes that there are two "worlds" of foreign policy analysis: the quantitative world of comparative foreign policy and the qualitative world of largely non-cumulative and single-case foreign policy studies. A major division concerns the inclusion of "intangibles", of which the "cultural factors" behind a nation's foreign policy may be considered at the core. The article points to the need for theoretically focused comprehensive studies with few cases as a way of bridging these two "worlds", and as a fruitful approach to theory-construction. With American foreign policy as one case, the author demonstrates how cultural sources should be considered a major source component of foreign policy. He then reviews how cultural/societal sources, broadly speaking, have been treated in the comparative foreign policy field and notes that while the "foreign policy events" school largely ignores cultural sources, the theorizing of James N. Rosenau, over a twenty-year period, has come to recognize such sources as fundamental. This, the article notes, seems to be linked to the definition of the dependent variable: foreign policy defined as "behavior" or discrete acts versus "orientation" (cf. K. J. Holsti). Rosenau's "adaptation model" as reformulated by Nicolaj Petersen is subsequently used to demonstrate how cultural/societal sources are of paramount importance when analyzing foreign policy defined as "orientation". The author concludes by proposing a three-level hierarchical definition of foreign policy as (1) foreign policy orientation, (2) sectorial foreign policies/programs of action, and (3) foreign policy behavior. A model is set up which hypothesizes a strong causal relationship between cultural/societal forces and foreign policy orientation and between situational/contextual factors and foreign policy behavior respectively. This fits in with a probabilistic relationship between policy as a "standard used in the making of decisions" and foreign policy behavior as discrete acts, and provides a perspective which helps explain issues related to consistency.

Research paper thumbnail of Foreign Policy Analysis: Actor-Specific Theory and the Ground of International Relations: Foreign Policy Analysis

Foreign Policy Analysis, 2005

Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analy... more Examining the history, conceptual breadth, and recent trends in the study of foreign policy analysis, it is clear that this subfield provides what may be the best conceptual connection to the empirical ground upon which all international relations (IR) theory is based. Foreign policy analysis is characterized by an actor-specific focus, based upon the argument that all that occurs between nations and across nations is grounded in human decision makers acting singly or in groups. FPA offers significant contributions to IR—theoretical, substantive, and methodological—and is situated at the intersection of all social science and policy fields as they relate to international affairs. A renewed emphasis on actor-specific theory will allow IR to more fully reclaim its ability to manifest human agency, with its attendant change, creativity, accountability, and meaning.

Research paper thumbnail of The European Challenge to Foreign Policy Analysis

European Journal of International Relations, 1999

... 3. National foreign policy refers to the separate foreign policies of member states which hav... more ... 3. National foreign policy refers to the separate foreign policies of member states which have continued to exist and indeed to thrive in the 1990s in the absence in practice of a common (single) European foreign policy. What ...