Role of culture in foreign policy: Confucius thought in foreign policy of China

Abstract

Foreign policy guides a country in its relations with other countries. It is geography, population, history, economic resources, ideology and the nature of the government that are taken to be factors that determine foreign policy. While realism and liberalism are the principle guides for understanding the foreign policy, this thesis argues that culture influences the foreign policy decisions and therefore should not be discounted while studying foreign policy. From the way a country is seen by others, to the way it wants to be seen as well to the way it perceives the international developments and reacts to them, culture plays role that can be used to understand and solve developments in international relations. This paper shows how countries make use of culture in shaping their soft power. Focus on China shows why and how the importance of Confucius as its cultural front man in the post Deng Xiaoping era, at a time when it needs to project its amicable image, especially when its economy is ready to become the first in the world and with issues like Thucydides Trap, China Threat are to be tackled with.