Foreign relations definition

There is much confusion with concepts such as foreign relations, foreign affairs, foreign policy, and so on. Here we’re going to see what foreign relations are and how they work.

Introduction

Today, I want to speak to you about foreign relations. There are different similar concepts, and sometimes people use them as they were synonyms. However, they have different meanings. In this case, I’m going to address the main features of foreign relations by answering fundamental questions. That is, why they are foreign, how they came to exist, and how they work.

Why foreign relations?

The three questions I’ve put forward before are intertwined. But I want to answer them one by one despite their interconnection. So, why do we talk about foreign relations? The answer is in political history, but in a few words, the reason is the territorial principle that organizes the international political stage. The typical sort of political unit in the world is the territorial and sovereign State. Borders separate each unit from their neighbors, and for this reason, they have two different realms in which they develop their activity. On the one hand, there is the domestic field. Something I spoke about on another occasion.

And on the other hand, there is the external or international realm in which interactions between political units take place. So, this distinction between these two spheres refers to different aspects of territorial political units. For this reason, we speak about foreign relations when we talk about the interactions of States beyond their borders. Those interactions that States establish abroad with other countries or entities are foreign relations.

The origins of foreign relations

Now, we know what foreign relations are. But how they came to exist will take much time to explain. It requires to discuss the historical context in which they emerged, and especially the way territoriality was introduced in politics.

The formation of the territorial and sovereign State was a long process. It was a bloody process because warfare played a vital role. Its formation culminated in the modern age, but its origins are rooted in the European Middle Age. In this regard, it occurred a critical shift from the medieval political organization to the modern State. Traditional bonds that had kept intertwined the western European elite broke down and personal relations that had defined medieval politics until then vanished gradually.

Fights inside the European elite, and especially between the emperor and the pope, contributed critically to strengthening the political position of monarchs. They got concessions that allowed them to claim an exclusive right to rule the geographical area of their domains. This political assertion of the crown led to the territorialization of the State. Wars, bargains between kings, the pope, and the emperor, and also international treaties, are the main factors in this process. In this way, the State changed its nature and became a territorial unit.

The establishment of borders that separated States was decisive. It involved the creation of an inner and external realm in which territorial authorities operated. Until then, during the medieval age, there weren’t these realms. Every lord had many rights on several lands that had to share with other lords. So, there were multiple overlapped jurisdictions in which lords also shared vassals. There weren’t foreign relations as such. Nevertheless, the struggle to control land, and modernity boosted this fight up to the point of transforming the nature of the State.

The competition between political units was crucial, besides the geopolitical fragmentation of Western Europe. In some way, we can argue that geopolitical factors drove the States’ transformation. In legal terms, the territorialization was evident with the Peace of Westphalia. Nevertheless, in practical terms, the idea of territoriality was already settled in early modern politics, and it was part of the political mindset of the western elite in the 16th century. And even before that century.

This shift was fundamental because it altered the functioning of the international sphere drastically. Relations between political units adopted a different character. The territorial base of the modern State entailed the transformation of external relations with other countries, and the organization of the international stage, both in territorial and political terms.

How do foreign relations work?

We know how foreign relations came to exist. It’s time to address the way they work. And that’s something enlightening if you want to understand the rules that shape the international realm, and especially what happens in politics behind the scenes.

When the State became a territorial entity, there were important changes in the organization of the international environment. These changes led to the emergence of the State system. So, the territorial State became the central unit on the international stage. As a result, the interactions that constituted the foreign relations had from then on a territorial base. The existence of borders separating countries and mutual recognition as equals was decisive in the articulation of external relations.

Since then, every State had to deal with other territorial States, with their respective jurisdictions in a specific territory. In this way, foreign relations adopted a geopolitical dimension insofar as this reality conditioned them.

We have to bear in mind the fact that the territorialization of the State involved a new situation in which there is no State without territory. Then, the land became a constitutive element of the State. And it also became a political force insofar as it is a stream of different resources. So, the State organizes its foreign relations depending on its geopolitical configuration, that is to say, its borders, location, geographical extension, population, distances, the resources available, and so on. But these relations also depend on the national capacities of other States, and therefore, on geopolitical factors. Consequently, foreign relations of every State are articulated in geopolitical terms, and they work according to these factors. Furthermore, their position in the international power hierarchy is geopolitically conditioned.

All of this explains why States have been fighting for territory and areas of influence for centuries. That’s because the organization of space became critical in political terms, and that has oriented the way of managing interactions with other countries. So, foreign relations are those interactions that States develop beyond their borders. And they respond to the needs of the States that geopolitical factors shape.

With the pass of time, the international arena has integrated new actors different than States, and the global stage has become much more complex. Then, every State develops its foreign relations with other States, but also with other entities such as companies, NGOs, international organizations, social movements, individuals, and so on. However, it hasn’t changed the leading role of geopolitical factors in the organization of foreign relations. In this way, geopolitics affects decisively how these relations work.

Question of the day

Question of the day! How important are foreign relations for you? Post your opinion in the comments section below, and I’ll check it out.

Bibliography used:

Strayer, Joseph, On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State

Strayer, Joseph, Medieval Statecraft and the Perspectives of History

Gilbert, Felix (ed.), The Historical Essays of Otto Hintze

Tilly, Charles, Coercion, Capital, and European States: AD 990-1992

Mann, Michael, The Sources of Social Power

Poggi, Gianfranco, The Development of the Modern State

Anderson, M. S., The Origins of the Modern European State System 1494-1618

Spruyt, Hendrik, The Sovereign State and its Competitors

Le Goff, Jacques, La Baja Edad Media

Giddens, Anthony, The Nation-State and violence

Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links where I’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.