Foreign Policy Change of States: When Governments Choose to Redirect Foreign Policy

Abstract

This study analyzes and explains foreign policy change through the theoretical framework of Charles F. Hermann. It highlights the driving forces behind the foreign policy changes of the states under study—namely Libya, Russia, and the United States of America—and how these forces contributed to initiating radical or adaptive transformations in their external policies. Consequently, the study explains the situations in which governments choose to redirect their foreign policies, categorizing these modifications based on magnitude and identifying the decisive factors in the change process, while adopting a systems approach and qualitative analytical method to evaluate the phenomenon.