Malaysia's foreign policy: the identification of some of its determinants, 1957-1977

Abstract

Most foreign policy analysts are undecided as to what determines the foreign policy of a state in its international relations with other states. Broadly speaking, those scholars who belong to the classical school The classical school of thought in international relations is best exemplified in the works of Hans J. Morgenthau, e.g. Politics Among Nations (4th Edit.) New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1964. of thought in the study of international relations have maintained that the basic determinants of foreign policy are based on such concepts as "power" and the "national interest". However, those belonging to the neo-classical school of thought have rejected the classical concepts of power and interest and have argued that the determinants of foreign policy can be attributed to such factors as socio-economic and cultural values, psychological motives, personalities, influential processes and institutions, issue-areas, public opinion, etc. The neo-classical school of thought includes the works of such scholars as Marshall R. Singer, Weak States in a World of Powers, New York, Harper and Row, 1971. In the classical approach the extent to which power and the national interest determine the foreign policy are best accounted for in terms of the economic, military, demographic and geographical capabilities of a state. On the other hand, the neo-classical approach has relied heavily on concepts in the social and behavioural sciences for its explanation of the determinants of foreign policy. Examples of these concepts include "decision-making", the "policy process", the "attentive public", "public opinion", etc.