Mapping Nepal's Foreign Policy Behaviour towards Great Power Politics: A Study of Nepal's Foreign Policy Response to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Gaurav Bhattarai; Manish Jung Pulami

doi:10.3126/nppr.v2i1.48400

Authors

Gaurav Bhattarai Department of International Relations and Diplomacy (DIRD)
Manish Jung Pulami Department of International Relations, South Asian University, New Delhi, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/nppr.v2i1.48400

Keywords:

foreign policy behaviour, Russia-Ukraine Crisis, The USA, MCC, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Nepal

Abstract

A country's foreign policy is characterised by continuity and change. A stark divergence, however, between stated foreign policy objectives and practically implemented foreign policy behaviours cannot be convincingly vindicated as a routine transformation. Nepal's foreign policy objectives and principles are laid down in the Constitution and various foreign policy documents, particularly in the integrated foreign policy of 2020. A series of perceptible deviations from those guiding principles, without any justifiable reason, may label Nepal's foreign policy behaviour as an adventurist project. Today, while the residue of Cold War politics has enveloped the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Nepal has divulged traceable foreign policy responses over the same. Taking the case study of Nepal's foreign policy responses to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the study aims to map Nepal's foreign policy behaviour toward great power politics. Surveying Nepal's foreign policy behaviour towards the United Nations and the great powers, particularly the United States and Russia, this study, firstly, identifies the sources of key changes and detectible transformations in Nepal's foreign policy behaviour. Secondly, drawing a critical analysis of Nepal's responses to the great power politics to understand the foreign policy behaviour of Nepal that has been ambiguous, ambivalent, and uncertain. Methodologically, this qualitative study has employed the framework of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) along with inductive as well as deductive methods of reasoning per the nature of non-numerical data.

Author Biographies

Gaurav Bhattarai, Department of International Relations and Diplomacy (DIRD)

Gaurav Bhattarai is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy (DIRD), Tribhuvan University. He also teaches Strategic Studies to the officer cadets at Nepali Military Academy. His areas of interest are national security, South Asian Studies, Small States and Nepal-India-China. His articles on the same areas are published in prominent international journals.

Manish Jung Pulami, Department of International Relations, South Asian University, New Delhi, India

Mr. Pulami is PhD Scholar of International Relations at South Asian University.

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