Leaders, Personality Traits, and the Foreign Policy Decision Making Process: Theoretical Aspects and Insights from Case-studies

Abstract

Numerous factors influence a state’s foreign policy actions and decisions. These factors can be internal to the state (relating to domestic politics) or emanate from the external environment (international politics). Regarding the internal factors, the personality traits of political leaders (notably presidents or prime ministers) remain central in foreign policy analysis, especially from a psychological and behavioural analysis perspective. Understanding leaders’ personalities has been deemed to be critical for explaining why they make certain foreign policy choices and decisions. Methodologically anchored on a scoping review of literature and drawing insights from the United Kingdom (UK) foreign policy under Prime Minister Tony Blair, the United States under the George W. Bush presidency, Türkiye under Recep Tayyip Erdogan presidency, and Nigeria under Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammdu Buhari presidencies, this article discusses how leaders’ personalities and behavioural traits shape foreign policy directions of states. This review highlights the continued relevance of leaders’ personality traits and the centrality of human agency in a state’s foreign policy actions and directions.