Foreign Policy In Malawi Essay

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This term paper is to examine the foreign policy of Malawi and discuss the pattern of external relations since independence which means that it is necessary to outline the foreign policy of Malawi since independence and also in the same order discuss the conduct of the foreign policy since independence, of course with other countries of the world.
The geography, socio-economical and political background of Malawi is very much important in discussing and understanding the foreign policy of Malawi since independence. Also it can be said that both domestic and international politics decided the kind of foreign policy that Malawi adopted since independence.1
Malawi is faced with a kind of geographical limitation which established the choice of Malawi’s first president Hastings Banda who was solely involved the drafting and formulation of Malawi’s foreign policy after independence, also it could be said that the foreign policy of Malawi was formulated based on power politics and various national problems ranging from its economy to poverty and diseases which would be explained later when considering the foreign policy itself.2
However, to go further certain issues would be discussed to give the topic the requirement to be understood properly, also for co ordination and referencing the Chicago manual of style 15th edition would be used.

WHAT IS FOREIGN POLICY
Foreign policy could be explained to be a set of ambitions that seek to prescribe how a nation will relate at an international level with other nations of the world and to an extent with non state actors in pursuit of its national economic, political, social and cultural interest.3
However, a country needs to consi...

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... first stage is the era of national interest in terms of economic and security, as I said in the introductory part of this paper that Hastings Banda inherited a government full of economic problems and all, so the promotion of socio economic interest and protection of territory integrity was the centre of Malawi’s foreign policy.32
The second stage defines the era of cold war and political dependence and the participation in regional co operations, the foreign policy of Malawi was shaped by conflicts and co operations between Malawi and Mozambique as they both struggle for influence over bilateral as well as regional issues. The cold war had a significant impact on the foreign policy of Malawi as Malawi was well aligned towards the western capitalist ideology. It should be noted that the cold war characterized Malawi’s relationship with other countries.33

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