The Making of Foreign and Defense Policy: Actors and Processes

11 July 2014
Joint Seminar Sciences Po-CERI / King’s College London 

Sciences Po-CERI and King’s College London  (KCL) organized a joint seminar on the study of foreign and defense policy held on July 11, 2014, at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI) of Sciences Po, in Paris. This seminar builds upon an existing monthly research group on foreign policy making at the CERI Sociologie de la politique étrangère. This joint CERI-KCL seminar brought together scholars and Ph.D. students from Sciences Po and King’s College London to:
(1) explore the theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that can be mobilized to study the actors and processes of foreign and defense policy making;
(2) compare the approaches currently utilized in the field of Foreign Policy Analysis;
(3) assess the degree of convergence/divergence and the potential for cross-fertilization between the various frameworks, concepts, and methods; (4) investigate the intertwining of domestic and international sources of foreign and defense policy-making. This first joint seminar also seeks to deepen the cooperation between Sciences Po and King’s College London by strengthening the institutional ties and research partnership between these two leading institutions in the field of foreign and defense policy.

Joint Seminar Program and Papers
First Session: Defense Policy Making – Hugo Meijer ( King’s College London )

Panel 1
•    Mark Beautement (King’s College London): “Peace in Whose Time? Assessing the Impact of Government Actions on Local and National Reconciliation Scenarios, with Lessons from Afghanistan’s Sangin Accord”
•    Recipient Decision-Making on Military Assistance: The Expansion of Iraqi Military Power through Security Cooperation, 1968-1990
Oleg Svet


Discussant: Thomas Lindemann (CESDIP, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin)

Panel 2
•   From Europe to Paris: The puzzle of the French Rafale progam. An international political socciology of the policy-making
Samuel B. H. Faure
•    Bilateral policy-making in defence: the missing link?
Alice Pannier

Second Session: Foreign Policy Making – Gilles Riaux (CETOBAC)

Panel 3
•    Revisiting European Foreign policymaking: integrating rationalist and ideational logics in the conceptualization of influence
Nikki Ikani
•    Avinash Paliwal (King’s College London): “Advocacy Coalitions and Shaping of India’s Contemporary Afghanistan Policy 1996-2001”

Discussant: Christian Lequesne (Sciences Po-CERI)

Panel 4
•    Analysing Diplomatic Institutions to Understand Foreign-Policy Behaviour: A Sociological Approach to India’s Diplomacy in a Changing World
Mélissa Levaillant
•    Opening the “Black Box” of the Decision-Maker: some remarks by a FPA student considering history and political psychology
Charles Sitzenstuhl
Discussant: David Houghton (King’s College London)

Concluding Remarks: Anand Menon ( King’s College London )