Foreign policy is a broader strategic perspective of a country to look at the world and accordingly deal with other countries in the quest of protecting national interest. The overall international situation, developments in the neighbourhood, country’s economy, history, military strength, values, domestic necessities and geopolitical positioning determine the foreign policy, its priorities and objectives of any country. It is a basic guideline based on which diplomacy acts in the field. According to Polish-born US professor Feliks Gross, ‘foreign policy is an ideology which has its own semantics, objectives, modus operandi and costs’. As the national interest is the paramount basis of adopting and conducting foreign policy, countries have diverse approaches and priorities in relations with other countries.
In other words, foreign policy is a procedure and approach in projecting power for powerful countries, while survival and development are often the bases and priorities of small and weaker countries. In the present interconnected and interdependent world, no country is fully self-reliant in all areas, thus requiring it to deal with other countries for the interest of its own people and country.
Extension of domestic policy
It is often said that foreign policy is the extension of domestic policy. This is true to a large extent but it is not always the case. Domestic situation, necessities and compulsions often determine a country’s foreign policy but sometimes international events and developments in the neighbourhood also influence the foreign policy choices and priorities of countries. This is especially so for countries with a complex geopolitical position and that do not have leverage of power.
While foreign policy is strategy, diplomacy is an instrument to achieve the goals and objectives set in foreign policy. Thus, the success or failure of foreign policy depends on the quality of diplomacy, which depends on the quality and competence of assigned diplomats. Nepal now has diplomatic relations with 188 countries. But only 32 missions have to handle relations with these countries and multilateral agencies, including the United Nations. Given this situation, one diplomatic mission, in general, has to handle relations with more than half a dozen countries. While our diplomatic outreach is enlarging, the government tends to reduce the number of diplomatic missions abroad, which is a stark contradiction in itself.
The world is getting more complex, marked by multiple problems and threats. Traditional problems continue to afflict humanity while newer and more serious problems have emerged, which are transboundary, non-military and recurrent. War, conflict, terrorism, arms race, poverty, backwardness, hunger, and economic inequality are the problems that the world is already facing. The newer and more serious problems including technological disruption, rising proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and climate change are posting pose newer threats. While annual global military spending by countries reaches trillions of dollars, a large section of humanity continues to suffer from hunger, abject poverty, disease and backwardness.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditure reached $ 2.887 trillion in 2025, an increase of 2.9 per cent from the previous year, which may instead be utilised to bring millions of people out of abject poverty. The danger of nuclear war is looming as the proliferation of nuclear weapons is on the rise. While the present stockpile of nuclear weapons is enough to eliminate the entire civilization on Earth, more countries are inclined to become nuclear powers.
Unusual floods, landslides, drought, sea level rise, rapid glacier and ice melting and biodiversity loss are recurring more often in different parts of the world, which have seriously impacted the lives and livelihoods of the people. Countries in the global south, which have suffered more as they lack resources to cope with such climate change-induced disasters. This year’s catastrophic Bhotekoshi and Budhigandaki floods that killed and displaced thousands of people and devastated infrastructures and other properties worth billions of dollars is the latest case in point. The reconstruction of this scale is beyond the capacity of a resource-strapped country like Nepal. Moreover, Nepal contributes the least to global warming but has suffered owing to the mistakes of others. Thus, resourceful countries are expected to contribute to Nepal’s reconstruction.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah, in his address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly, put forth this issue clearly and called upon the international community for their generous support in Nepal’s post-disaster reconstruction. Prime Minister Shah has proposed to create Nepal-India-China trilateral Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism. The proposition is good and needs to be translated into reality. Immediate and sustainable actions must be initiated to save the Himalayan ecosystem. For Nepal, the Himalayas are not merely a mountain range but identity, life, and the foundation of socio-cultural faith. Saving the Himalayas is not merely saving mountains and ice; it is the saving of billions of people whose livelihood is directly linked with the Himalayas.
Collaboration
Now the onus lies on our diplomats to convince the international community for their support and collaboration not only for the post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation but also in saving the Himalayas. The pivot of international geopolitical rivalry and power politics has shifted to Asia. Nepal has already experienced a tough time navigating this newer situation while maximizing its national interests. The climate crisis has further added to the challenges. Nepal has always adhered to its long-cherished non-aligned foreign policy, based on which it seeks to build friendly relations with all countries. But non-alignment is not neutrality in all issues and values. When international values and principles are at stake, it stands firmly in favour of the international laws, values and principles irrespective of the countries that are involved in it.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated, “The future will be shaped by how we address four great tests of power- power over war, power over climate chaos and the war power of artificial intelligence.” The countries collectively act for peace, disarmament, abolition of nuclear weapons, environmental protection, poverty eradication, development and cooperation. Decisions and actions of one state also affect other countries. Sustainable peace, collective security and broader cooperation are what we need at present, on which countries, including Nepal, are required to focus their diplomacy.
(The author is a former chief editor of this daily and a former ambassador. lamsalyubanath@gmail.com)
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