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Foreign Policy
Fall 1998
Perspectives from London
By Caroline Soper, Editor, International Affairs
International Affairs is an independent journal of research, analysis, and debate. As a modern journal attempting to explore contemporary subjects of importance from stimulating vantage points, its scope is mainly—but not exclusively—defined by policy relevance. It aims systematically to address important subjects and to attract new and exceptional international authors who will provoke argument and debate. Although research and scholarship are highly valued, a balance is actively sought between academic and practitioner authors.
International Affairs is strategically placed to take advantage of the European policy debate and publishes articles on international issues from a European perspective, yet it remains a global-scope journal.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) is an independent research and membership institute; it is not an advocacy institute and does not seek a direct influence on the government of the day. Moreover, International Affairs is not a house journal and does not reflect “a Chatham House view” of the world; it is a “stand-alone” academic journal that aims to contribute to the general fund of knowledge, making policymakers aware of academic work.
However, there have been exceptions to this. In October 1972, Geoffrey Howe, then-minister for trade and consumer affairs in the Tory government at the time, addressed a conference organized by the RIIA on the legal implications of British entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). The text was subsequently published in the January 1973 issue of International Affairs and advocated in no uncertain terms that British entry into the EEC was a challenge that should not be passed up. It reflected the prevailing current (unofficial) Chatham House “view” and the institute’s objective to influence and steer the European debate in a particular direction. In this rare case the influence had the desired effect. In contrast to this, another British think tank—the Adam Smith Institute—claims that more than 100 of its policies have been taken up by the government of the day.
Consensus formation
Keeping the epistemic community informed of important international relations issues, acting as a forum for debate around which policymakers and academics can form a consensus of opinion, is a function of foreign-policy journals. There should be a premium on debate and the exchange of ideas. One way of enhancing this is through debate sections, something International Affairs intends to introduce. Another, is the introduction of supplementary or complementary electronic journals for shorter and more immediate articles and discussion.
The Future: Challenges and Uncertainties
An ever integrating and increasingly globalizing world has thrown up complicated issues for those involved in international affairs. The uncertainty of post–Cold War international politics makes the task of making sense of foreign-policy issues all the more difficult. But the rethinking of policy agendas, transforming traditional approaches to international relations and addressing questions of outreach and response to the new order, continues to be debated and is recognized as an opportunity for innovation for think tanks and foreign-policy journals alike.
Foreign-policy journals such as International Affairs have to respond to these challenges (they need to reduce the skepticism about the identity of international relations highlighted by its failure to predict the end of the Cold War) and should try to shape the wider matrix of ideas and policies on which “policy élites” (if and when they are identifiable) will draw. This has a number of implications:
1. Reshaping policy
Journals such as International Affairs should be interdisciplinary and should aim to reshape traditional academic disciplines in the social sciences to encompass the human and social issues of the twenty-first century. Currently most foreign-policy journals do not explicitly do this.
International Affairs, in its attempt to integrate policy and research more effectively, has succeeded in identifying and publishing cutting-edge articles on foreign-policy issues in the new environment: globalization and the state; the nature of security; global environmental politics; ethics in international relations; aid (does it do any good?) and development; ethnicity; regionalism, subregionalism and devolution; the forces behind the rise of state and local influence on foreign affairs (what are they?). Articles on international-relations theory are given a key place in the journal in the belief that understanding general patterns of international relations can help practitioners to formulate sound policy.
In the absence of much public debate on foreign policy in the United Kingdom, International Affairs has kept Europeans informed of U.S. opinion and thinking on such vital topics as the U.S. attitude to European Union integration/enlargement; the U.S. approach to post–Cold War Europe (NATO/Western European Union); Europe’s role and U.S. global intentions.
2. Influencing public debate
This aspect needs to be clarified. In many of the OECD-type countries and some others the traditional way of influencing public debate will necessarily prove less and less effective and target audiences need to be identified (and more clearly defined than just as “policy élites”). New ways of injecting ideas into the public consciousness need to be considered.
One way of increasing influence is for like-minded journals to do things together or with other collaborators: sponsoring series of exchanges or roundtables. International Affairs is planning a day-long seminar in October 1998 with the Review of International Studies (the quarterly journal of the British International Studies Association, known as BISA) on “Academics and policymakers: Do they have anything to say to each other?”, as well as a roundtable at the BISA annual conference in December, to discuss U.K. foreign policy.
International Affairs also cooperates with the Meetings Department and Conference Unit of the RIIA, to highlight or launch a particular article in the journal. For example, an International Affairs’ initiative, a two-day conference between the RIIA and Fauna and Flora International on “Biodiversity and business: putting the words into action” is planned for April 1999 to coincide with an issue of the journal devoted to the same topic.
International Affairs has taken several specific editorial initiatives to take account of shifting trends. I won’t detail them here but will be happy to discuss.
The influence of foreign-policy journals is extremely difficult to gauge. Anecdotal evidence, the number of applications for photocopying and reprinting, the number of “hits” on World Wide Web sites (Columbia International Relations Online, for example) and home pages can give some, not very accurate, indications. One particular article, quoted in the press or on television, can appear to make a difference to policy, but even so the impact is very difficult to quantify. There is a need to identify what policymakers need quickly—policy briefs at short notice, for example. In this case, journals need to know how decision-makers make selections from journal Web sites. The selection of abstracts and contents and forthcoming issue notices on Web sites and through other media must be carefully thought through.
3. Leading policy communities
Journals should endeavor to lead policy communities—they should be issue-led not contributor-led. However, important “think pieces” on key topics of the day still have a crucial part to play—for example, the International Affairs article this July on the Indian and Pakistani test explosions in May of this year.
4. The importance of rhetoric
How diverse audiences are addressed is important. They need to be carried along, but without letting them dictate style or content. One former U.K. minister consistently claims that International Affairs is not going in the right direction. This may have something to do with the fact that all five of his submissions have been rejected!