Foreign policy is a country’s approach to other countries and non-state actors. It has existed since early human history and is now handled by foreign ministers, ambassadors, and the Secretary of State. Air travel and powerful weapons make foreign policy more important today. Cardinal Richelieu is credited with modern statecraft, and the Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations were important milestones. The United Nations serves as an international forum, with the Security Council being the most important body. Its influence on world events is strong but not unlimited.
Foreign policy determines how a country will act vis-à-vis other countries politically, socially, economically and militarily, and to a slightly lesser extent how it will behave vis-à-vis non-state actors. Foreign policy can also be known as international relations policy or simply diplomacy. It seems probable that foreign policy, in some form, has been in place since the earliest days of humanity on the lowlands of Africa, when great tribes would presumably have interacted from time to time without engaging in all-out warfare. Today, foreign policy is handled by foreign ministers, ambassadors and/or the Secretary of State (in the United States).
While foreign policy has always been important, it is especially true today, when air travel makes the world smaller and more interconnected and powerful weapons make the risk of diplomatic collapse even more acute. Many thinkers in the field have placed the genesis of modern foreign policy and statecraft with Cardinal Richelieu, a statesman in early 17th century France. Richelieu became famous for consolidating French power, making France among the first of the Great Powers and feuding with the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled in both Austria and Spain. He ordered all the castles of the gentry and feudal lords to be razed to the ground, causing the French kingship to become more powerful than ever.
Richelieu’s 400 years were marked by intense foreign policy interactions and negotiations between the world’s most powerful nations, particularly those in Europe, where world power was centralized until the mid-20th century, when nations such as America and China have established themselves. An important milestone in foreign policy and international relations came in 1920 when World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles (which would have angered Germans about starting WWII) and the Society of Women was established. Nations. The League of Nations was the first truly international organization of countries and was a forerunner of the modern United Nations.
Today, many official pronouncements and foreign policy actions are channeled through the United Nations, which serves more as an international forum than a unified political body. There are many foreign policy thinkers who support the United Nations, calling it a step towards a more unified and civilized world, or repudiate it, calling it an unnecessary farce. The most important body of the United Nations is the Security Council, a council made up of the countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France. This trick has been criticized by other countries as simply representing the victors of WWII and not really reflecting international will. However, the United Nations Security Council receives considerable attention and press, and while its influence on world events is not unlimited, it is certainly strong.
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