Conclusion: Grasping Foreign Policy Change

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Foreign policy change is as ubiquitous as it is hard to grasp. Against this background, the edited volume seeks to expand our understanding of foreign policy change and to identify the drivers and inhibitors of such processes. This concluding chapter discusses key lessons and insights that can be drawn from the empirical chapters for the volume’s two main objectives. Particular emphasis is placed on: types of foreign policy change; the temporal dimension of foreign policy change; and drivers and inhibitors of foreign policy change. Building on those insights, the chapter suggests several avenues—both conceptual and empirical—for future research. These avenues concern: the classification of specific episodes of foreign policy change; typologies of the drivers (and inhibitors) of foreign policy change; the interaction between different drivers and the promise of a leader-oriented perspective; moving beyond state-centrism in analyzing foreign policy change; a theoretical dialogue with approaches in public policy; and exploring the drivers and inhibitors of foreign policy change in non-Western settings.