The Constructivist Approach Towards Foreign Policy Analysis

Every academic discipline has a ground that refers to the abstraction of the fundamental level at which phenomena subject to the discipline of study take place. This study is to explore the ground of foreign policy analysis (FPA) as the subfield of international relations (IR) discipline, upon which it explores how constructivist scholars establish their approach to that study. This study argues that: first, state policy makers create the social world within which they conduct foreign policy in interaction with other states. Foreign policy, ther efore, is an instrument for building bridges amongst states. Second, states deal with social construction that shapes national identity. The construction of identity substantially informs what defined as the national interest. Dual process of articulation and interpellation is of central importance in understanding the construction of identity and the national interest in foreign policy. Through this process visions of the foreign policy behavior including definition of one own state, other states, and thei r positions have been created. Key Words: FPA, International Relations, constructive approach, social construction, national identity