Kenya's foreign policy in context (1963–2015)

Kenya matters regionally and globally. It is the economic powerhouse of East Africa and a long-standing hub for multilateral diplomacy; its positioning in a turbulent region has fashioned its profile as an anchor state in African peace and security. Until recently, Kenya's foreign policy orientation has situated it as a benign regional leader, but pressing developments in the regional and international environments have edged it towards a more assertive foreign policy position. This study constitutes a multilevel review of Kenya's foreign policy in the period 1963–2015, beginning with Jomo Kenyatta through to the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta. After evaluating contexts pertinent to the analysis of Kenya’s foreign policy, the fundamental principles, objectives and pillars of the current foreign policy are unpacked.     

The foreign policy of Uzbekistan: sources,objectives and outcomes: 1991–2009

Since 1991 the super-presidential regime of Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan has successfully defended the country's new independence and his authoritarian rule by cleverly enlisting the aid of outside powers such as Russia, China and the USA. With the means afforded by global export of its staple commodities, the regime has preserved stability by managing occasional conflicts with its neighbours, repressing dissenters when necessary, promulgating an ideology of multi-nationalism, and ample spending on health and educational services, as well as on government employees. The current economic crisis has meant the return of many Uzbeks from elsewhere in Asia, but the regime is trying to offset discontent with more spending.     

Building bridges? South African foreign policy and trilateral development cooperation

As questions concerning international development climb the international agenda, so countries find themselves drawn into a burgeoning number of negotiations on issues ranging from the future shape and direction of the post-2015 development agenda to ‘aid effectiveness’ and international development cooperation. Moving from the position of a ‘beneficiary’ state in the traditional donor–recipient aid hierarchy, South Africa is looking to define its own niche within the wider development diplomacy context as a development partner. This paper provides an assessment of South Africa's evolving approach towards international development cooperation, with a particular focus on trilateral development cooperation, and what this means for Pretoria's foreign policy in bridging the divide between developed and developing country positions within the international development regime.     

The sirens of power and German foreign policy: Who is listening?

The unification of Germany has, unsurprisingly, provoked much speculation as to the future foreign policy of the country. Two images ‐ Germany as Gulliver and Germany as Ulysses ‐ have dominated the debate, each coming in a popular and an academic version. This article analyses German foreign policy behaviour and discourse in order to determine which one is more accurate. As to behaviour, the article examines two examples from the core sector of national security policy as well as how Germany's relations developed with France, the United States, Russia and Poland. As to discourse, five ‘schools of thought’ in the current debate about German foreign policy are related to a set of five grand strategies that are suggested either in the literature or in public debate. In both words and deeds the analysis shows that united Germany continues to stick to the course of multilateralism and integration.     

Between national and European foreign policy: the role of Latvia and Romania in the EU’s policy towards Central Asia

This article explores whether and to what extent new member states of the European Union (EU) seek to pursue their national foreign policy goals towards Central Asia through the EU rather than bilaterally. To do so, it focuses on Latvia and Romania. While the article finds evidence of Romanian attempts to project its interests in the region onto the EU level, Latvia appears to rely more extensively on the EU level to pursue its goals towards Central Asia. Using insights from the literature on Europeanization of national foreign policy, the article explains this finding with reference to four variables that determine whether a member state will seek to upload its national foreign policy preferences onto the EU level, namely the perceived salience of the policy goals, the extent to which member states can carve out a niche, their perceived capabilities and the level of Europeanization of their national foreign policies.     

The Spanish Parliament and legislative delegation (1844–1849)1

A study of executive power and the legislative elaboration process during the reign of Isabel II leads to an understanding of one of the government's distinctive features. During the rule of the Moderate Party (1844–1854), and despite the fact that according to the Constitution of 1845 the legislative initiative lay with the king and the parliament, the ministerial initiatives prevailed over parliamentary proposals by means of legislative delegation. The lack of constitutional regulation brought about the existence of several types of delegation. Contemporaries noted their excessive use arising from the fact that it was very easy to govern with this system and, above all, because they were granted to all governments without political distinction. A paradigmatic illustration of the use of delegation is the Spanish Penal Code of 1848. This was because of the scope of its contents (the code put an end to the Ancien Regime in Spain) and because it had a structure and a scientific orientation which were going to exert a recognised influence, not only on Spain's subsequent Spanish Penal Codes until reaching the one in force from 1995, but also in Latin America. The Penal Code was equally important, because it clearly shows how the chambers themselves were not only unable to limit the government's capacity to introduce law, but even enlarged it by conferring upon the latter extraordinary powers for its future reform, limited by the only condition that the government had to inform the chambers once the reforms had been completed. An analysis of parliamentary debates allows us to understand the position of the moderate and progressive parties towards this practice.     

The British Parliament and ministerial responsibility c. 1740–60*

This article deals with certain matters concerning the issue of the political accountability of ministers to parliament during the last twenty years of the reign of King George II. It emphasizes the fact that there was no constitutional convention during this period that would have allowed parliament or the House of Commons alone to force the dismissal or resignation of ministers (as the ultimate sanction of political accountability). At that time, the king was the real master of his ministers. On the other hand, and as a matter of fact, only those ministers who could best manage the king's business in parliament were kept in office by the king. These propositions are demonstrated by examining the practice of the various administrations between 1740–60. It was also especially important for the leading ministers, such as Robert Walpole, Henry Pelham, the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt to secure both the favour of the king and the confidence of parliament to remain in office. The Pitt-Newcastle administration (from 1757) additionally confirmed the general principle in times of war that administrations can only have firm parliamentary majorities to hold onto power as long as they would lead a war successfully.     

Patriotism and neutrality. The Spanish Parliament and the Great War, 1914–18

Despite the pressure exerted by rival protagonists, the Spanish government chose not to be involved in the Great War. This decision converted Spain into a neutral state, formally outside of the conflict yet deeply involved in several ways. Espionage and smuggling conducted by the belligerents in Spanish territory called the sovereignty of the state into question. In an effort to reduce these violations, the Spanish government adopted measures limiting freedom and parliamentary powers that were constitutionally guaranteed. As a result of the research carried out in the historical archives of the Cortes of Madrid, this article will examine the parliamentary response to executive infringements on individual liberty and parliamentary rights, focusing on two main aspects. First, the manner in which the Spanish deputies attempted to preserve the authority and institutional primacy of the Parliament against executive power during the war will be examined. Second, special attention will be paid to the debates on legislation introducing ‘extraordinary powers’ of public authority in 1918. The results of this analysis allow for a further and more in-depth exploration of the conventional depiction of the Spanish Parliament as passive and irrelevant at the end of the Restoration era (1875–1923).     

Slovaks in the Prague Parliament 1918–1938

SUMMARY

Matej Hanula examines the activities of Slovaks in the Prague parliament during the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic. Slovaks in the National Assembly were divided not only between the left and the right of the political spectrum but also according to their attitude towards relations between Slovakia and the Czech lands. One side consisted of parties standing for Czechoslovak national unity—the socialist parties and the Agrarian Party who were dependent on their Prague headquarters. The other side advocated Slovak national independence and regional autonomy within the territory of Czechoslovakia. The two groups were not able to find common ground even on the basic economic needs of Slovakia. But the policy of all Slovaks was based on the territory of the republic. In critical moments they had been its consistent supporters also in parliament.     

Solving south Africa's Chinese puzzle: Democratic foreign policy making and the ‘two chinas’ question

When President Nelson Mandela abruptly announced on 27 November 1996 that South Africa would no longer recognise the Republic of China but would open official diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in its stead, he caught the world by surprise. In what was a fittingly bizarre end to a situation that continued to defy all expectations, the post‐apartheid government made its first significant foreign policy decision. The remarkable level of public debate, the inter‐departmental conflicts, the role of interest groups and party politics which accompanied the decision to switch recognition gave the South African government and the public as a whole its first exposure to the vagaries of conducting foreign policy in a democracy.

This article will examine the decision to recognise the People's Republic of China by investigating the historical relationship between the South African state, non‐state actors and their Chinese counterparts, the debate itself and the role of interest groups ‐ both within and outside the formal policy making process ‐ in seeking to influence the decision and analysing the dynamics of the recognition decision. In so doing, it hopes to shed some light on the policy decision making process in the new democratic South Africa.     

Late Imperial Paradoxes: Old Austria's Last Parliament 1917–18

SUMMARY

In this article Lothar Höbelt has analysed the politics of the last session of the Reicksrat in the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, which lasted from May 1917 to November 1918. The Lower House, elected in 1911, had been in a state of chronic deadlock and was prorogued in March 1914. Its recall was prompted by the assassination of the prime minister and the death of the Emperor in autumn 1916. In contrast with its pre-war behaviour, during this final session, the parties in parliament began to observe the normal conventions of parliamentary behaviour so that majorities could be formed in support of the government. All the groups in the parliament had an ethnic base, but they now showed a willingness to avoid obstructionist tactics in order to keep parliament functioning. The article describes the political dealings which achieved this effect until, in October 1918 the inevitable was accepted and the parliament agreed to separate into national councils, as a preliminary to the break up of the Habsburg monarchy. The article notes the paradox that it was only during its terminal stage that the Austrian half of the Dual Monarchy was able to practice normal parliamentary politics again.     

The French foreign policy U-turn in the Arab Spring – the case of Tunisia

As for many, the Arab uprisings of 2010–11 came as a surprise for France. After initial inactivity, followed by last minute support of the Tunisian regime, President Sarkozy took a U-turn by spearheading the military intervention in Libya and both Sarkozy and his successor Hollande announced a re-launch in the Franco-Tunisian relations. Starting from the assumption that France’s drastic foreign policy changes cannot be sufficiently explained by presidential change, we draw upon social-constructivist discourse-bound identity theory and provide a model for discursive legitimations of foreign policy changes. When the “permissive consensus” between the three discursive formations of the French foreign policy identity breaks up, drastic foreign policy turns may occur. By analysing the French policy actions and rhetoric towards Tunisia between 2007 and 2015, we show, however, that the sudden change tends to be rather ephemeral and that French foreign policy seems to be gradually returning to its pre-revolution approach.     

Relations with North Africa: a new priority in Portuguese bilateral foreign policy?

Portugal has remained quite distant from coastal North African states for many centuries. Having recently emerged as a prominent player across North Africa, Portugal’s current relationship with the Maghreb countries is unprecedented in its history. Lisbon has invested in building the Maghreb axis as a ‘new priority’ in the architecture of Portugal’s bilateral foreign policy. This policy already took off, and is now beyond the rhetorical plan, where it stood for many years. Portugal and its partner countries across the Mediterranean have reiterated their willingness to keep up with the positive momentum, especially from the past 10 years, deepening bilateral political dialogue and bolstering trade relations. This article puts Portuguese relations with North Africa into context and offers an up-to-date analysis on recent (and ongoing) developments in Luso?Maghreb relations.     

Domestic politics of Chinese foreign policy: where will Xi Jinping bring China?

ABSTRACT

Xi Jinping has concentrated his power since he acceded to the Chinese presidency. Where will Xi bring China? In this review essay I discuss four single-authored books – one in English and three in Japanese – to explore security implications of Xi’s reform and foreign policies. In her recent book, Elizabeth Economy is critical of Xi, arguing that he is turning away from Deng Xiaoping’s reform and internationalist policies. The three Japanese China specialists concur, and further highlight the interconnectedness of domestic politics and international relations. In sum, the four books show that Xi has struggled to commit to the state-owned enterprise reform and to cooperative foreign policy due to Chinese domestic politics, and as a result, has threatened regional security in the Asia-Pacific.