Cognitive Process and Foreign Policy Decision Making

Introduction

Michael J. Shapiro is an American nationalist and a Professor of Political Sciences at the University of Hawaii. He is best known as an educator, theorist, and writer. His works are often described as “post-disciplinary.” International relation theory, comparative politics, sociology, and indigenous politics are some of his main interests, apart from his numerous other interests. He has written several books, among which “Cinematic Politics” and “Politics and Time” are notable. His co-author, G. Matthew Bonham, is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and an affiliated faculty member at the International Relations Program, Maxwell School. He specializes in International Relations, Public Diplomacy, International Politics, Foreign Policy Decision-making, and others. He offers courses on Comparative Foreign Policy, Advanced Public Diplomacy, International Affairs, etc. One of his publications is titled “The ‘War on Terrorism.’ His research interest is focused on the field of public diplomacy and international political communications.

Main Discussion

In this article, Shapiro and Bonham discuss foreign policy decision-making based on past and present studies with a psychological orientation, emphasizing the influence of psychological traits of those involved in foreign policy decision-making. This includes both individuals and groups. Their focus is more on the present studies, including the significance of perception, cognition, and information-processing. In contrast to perception and information-processing, the cognitive process approach has endeavored in exact degrees to articulate the beliefs of decision-makers. This approach directs their belief structures to delve deeper into how international events are understood and how policy alternatives are considered. The ultimate focus of this investigation is again centered around the identification of and responses to international events by foreign policy decision-makers, using two dimensions in this approach. First and foremost is the explanation of cognitive dynamics. Second is the dimension concerning the mode in which the explanations of foreign policy are to be expressed. In other words, the main focus of this investigation should be termed as “policy-oriented.”

Cognitive Process and Foreign Policy Decision Making

The argument identified in this article is that the cognitive approach used to explicate the events in the international community by foreign policy decision-makers is conceptualized under normative implications and theoretical perspectives. However, the two conceptions do not agree with each other. Under the normative implication perspective, the cognitive process approach to foreign policy decision-making is based slightly on building a comprehensive theoretical framework that allows foreign policy decision-makers to explain and predict decisions that would be made when examining the nature of international events. However, in a theoretical perspective, the interpretation of events in the international environment depends on the possible outcomes. Foreign policy decision-makers use a deductive process to maximize their expected gains over expected losses.

Intended Audience and Methodology

The article is intended to be examined by foreign policy decision-makers, other researchers, and scholars of international relations and political science who have interests in foreign policy, public diplomacy, international affairs, etc., including international relations students. Moreover, the research method used to gather information is both qualitative and quantitative. To support this, the authors actually used their participants’ views in the article as Participant 1, 2, and 3 to analyze the pattern of belief systems of the foreign policy decision-makers. They also used data in a flowchart to show a series of events and decision-makers' explanations for a policy situation. The authors concluded by stating that both theoretical perspectives and cognitive implications have been successful precedents for the experiment of foreign policy decision-making.

Relevance and Strengths

The article is relevant to the course of study as it contains information about foreign policy. More precisely, it provides insight into one of the sub-topics, which is foreign policy decision-making. Illustrations were used, especially two mappings termed as perceptual and cognitive mappings, for further clarification. Furthermore, a strength identified is that the article was explained in detail with the use of illustrations, which made it easy for readers to understand. The limitation was that the article was written in broader terms, requiring frequent consultation of a dictionary. The article was interesting in the way it was written, with the use of more illustrations, which caught readers’ attention.

Conclusion and Recommendations

However, I recommend that similar research needs to be done to help interested parties compare different perceptions of different scholars on foreign policy decision-making to broaden readers’ understanding.