Recognizing foreign policy in Colombia: What we should understand behind it

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Resumo

Abstract

A review of the literature produced in Latin America on the conceptualization and implementation of foreign policy reveals persistent difficulties affecting foreign affairs agencies and diplomatic services. The literature almost always reduces such dynamics to problems of a political nature. Consequently, conceptual issues necessary to understand the practical execution of any political activity are often left aside.

Colombia is not an exceptional case. Scholars often avoid defining foreign policy and have difficulty discriminating it from international politics or international relations. Additionally, as part of the empirical work, policymakers' interactions indicate they need a clearer and complete understanding of the subject. These circumstances suggest that one of the difficulties affecting the absence of clearly designed foreign policy strategies is the relative scarcity of knowledge on the subject. This obstacle is the central issue for this academic discussion. The paper aims to engage the foreign policy study from the conceptualization and understanding.