Foreign Policy Analysis Theory And Ancient Chinese Diplomatic Practice

This thesis employs the traditional rational actor model and other models of foreign policy analysis to explain the foreign policy decisions during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Periods of ancient China. Comparing the determinant variables for foreign policy decision making in the West and those in ancient China, this paper tries to find out the special variables that influenced foreign policy decision-making in ancient China in order to complement those models if they are to be used to study ancient Chinese foreign policy decision-making. This paper holds that the ancient Chinese world system shares many comparable similarities with modern international systems in general. Realist model of rational actor could be used to explain many of the foreign policy decisions during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, but it fails to explain some other important military and foreign policy decisions during those periods. The different perspectives of foreign policy analysis could complement the rational actor model. Only when the decision making structure and process, the operational milieu that influences decision makers, as well as the psychological differences of each decision makers and many other determinant variables are fully taken into account could we grasp the numerous and sophisticated diplomatic phenomena and give them a convincing explanation. The inter-state Chinese system during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period shares many comparable similarities with modern international systems in general, they have some differences. Many of the theories of foreign policy analysis are developed on the basis of western and mostly modern diplomatic practice, whereas foreign policy decision making in ancient China, due to time and spatial reasons, has Chinese characteristics. For instance, theories of foreign policy analysis do not and understandably can not take all the factors that influenced ancient Chinese foreign policy making into account. It is imperative to take these factors into account. For example, on top of the foreign policy agenda of the ancient Chinese kings of the Warring States Period was the safety of their thorn, rather than the sovereignty and territorial integrity; and family members of the kings, especially the wives of the kings,played much more important role in decision making than those in the West. Such cases are not touched upon by any modern foreign policy analysts because such phenomena are beyond their imagination.