Suchergebnisse

American academic literature on foreign policy witnessed, in the 1960's, a continuing flow of studies of the Soviet case, as indeed of other cases. It also witnessed a flow of studies of another, newer, and broader type—studies of theoretical bent concerned with the construction of general analytical models of foreign policy behavior.

An approach to planning foreign policy systematically is presented. It is seen as an appropriate planning aid in situations where some form of goals can be stated, the subject matter is "well understood," and potential disturbances in the patterns of interrelationship between variables are identifiable. After placing this approach in the context of other planning and decision-making arguments and schemes, an example dealing with choosing a foreign assistance policy is offered to illustrate steps involved in mathematical planning. Those steps are goal setting and weighting, establishing normatively set constraints, relating variables, determining initial conditions, and numerical evaluation of alternative policies. In the foreign assistance example, computer simulation is employed to accomplish the final step.