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Comparative Foreign Policy Analysis Revisited
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15 September 2026

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
Moving beyond Western-centric perspectives, this book presents novel theoretical angles on Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA).
Chapters demonstrate how comparative analysis can decentre scholarship traditionally dominated by US political contexts, enhancing explanatory power through contextual sensitivity. Examining how leadership dynamics, group decision-making, and bureaucratic politics may play out differently across diverse political settings, the authors provide a coherent and conceptually rigorous foundation for comparative FPA.
Vital for scholars and students seeking to understand foreign policy beyond conventional paradigms, this book offers both theoretical innovation and empirically informed insights that reflect our increasingly multipolar world.
"It is difficult to see how in the next few years this book will not become the first port of call for anyone embarking on comparative analysis of foreign policy." Angelos Chryssogelos, London Metropolitan University
Klaus Brummer holds the Chair of International Relations at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany.
Chris Alden is Director of LSE IDEAS, recognised as one of the world’s top university-based think tanks.
1. Introduction
2. A Brief Overview of Comparative Foreign Policy Analysis
3. Traits and Beliefs
4. Historical Analogies
5. Political Loss Aversion
6. Concurrence-Seeking in Decision Groups
7. Inter-Ministerial Conflict
8. Conclusion