Role of culture in foreign policy: Confucius thought in foreign policy of China
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Department of International Relations and Diplomacy
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.