Diplomacy and Developing Nations

This volume explores the foreign policy environment facing developing nations and their particular foreign policy-making structures and processes. By defining foreign policy broadly to incorporate the activities of a range of state actors and non-state actors, the book broadens the range of analytical frameworks for studying foreign policy-making in developing nations. Thus, the actions of small groups of elites, international institutions and transnational networks are seen to be part of foreign policy-making, as well as the traditional operations of foreign ministries.The volume is comprised of an extensive introduction, four thematic chapters, six country studies and a conclusion that ties together common themes. These serve as a useful contribution to the analysis of foreign policy-making in developing nations, a neglected area in the comparative study of foreign policy.

'This collection provides comparative analysis of foreign policy making processes and capabilities in developing nations. Robertson (politics and international studies, U. of Warwick, UK) and East (international affairs and political science, George Washington U., US) first present three papers with different takes on the overall question, focusing in turn on domestic economic structures that favor international clients, the power of US unipolarity, and the comparative advantages developing nations have in applying technology to their policy-making. Case studies are then presented of policy-making in Brazil, China, the Eastern Caribbean, Egypt, Ghana, and Malaysia. A pair of concluding chapters reflects on the lessons of the previous studies and discusses normative issues.' -Reference & Research Book News'This text makes a considerable effort towards renovating the subfield of comparative foreign policy.' - International Affairs

Maurice A. East is Professor of International Affairs and Political Science in the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University.Justin Robertson is a PhD Candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick and a Graduate Research Assistant in the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation.