Populism and Foreign Policy

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Sandra Destradi (Chair of International Relations, Chair of International Relations, University of Freiburg) Johannes Plagemann (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, German Institute for Global and Area Studies)

Populism and Foreign Policy

Sandra Destradi (Chair of International Relations, Chair of International Relations, University of Freiburg), Johannes Plagemann (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, German Institute for Global and Area Studies)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
12 March 2026

International relations; Geopolitics; Public opinion & polls

How and why does the formation of populist governments lead to changes in foreign policy? This book theorizes and empirically analyzes how populism, understood as a thin-centred ideology, impacts foreign policy. It argues that two common features of populists' foreign policy, the use of foreign policy issues for domestic political mobilization and the personalization of decision making, are key to explain different intensities of foreign policy change. The strongest change can be expected if both mobilization and personalization in a specific issue area are strong. More moderate changes are a result of a combination of strong mobilization and weak personalization, or weak mobilization and strong personalization. The empirical analysis focuses on transitions from non-populist to populist governments in Bolivia, India, the Philippines, and Turkey. It addresses foreign policy change in four fields: the escalation of international disputes, the provision of global public goods, the engagement in multilateral institutions, and the reorientation of each country's international partnerships. As a part of an abductive research process, the theory of populism and foreign policy initially applied to cases from the Global South is then also used to analyze populist governments' foreign policies in Hungary, the UK, and Italy.

By: Sandra Destradi (Chair of International Relations Chair of International Relations University of Freiburg), Johannes Plagemann (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, German Institute for Global and Area Studies)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780197694985
ISBN 10: 0197694985
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 12 March 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1: Introduction 2: Theorizing Populist Foreign Policy 3: Populism and the Escalation of International Disputes 4: Populism and the Provision of Global Public Goods 5: Populism and Engagement in International Institutions 6: Reorientation of International Partnerships 7: Populism and Foreign Policy in European Cases 8: Conclusion

Sandra Destradi holds the Chair of International Relations at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and she is currently serving as a DAAD long- term Guest Professor at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. Johannes Plagemann is Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies in Hamburg, Germany, where he is speaker of the Research Team 'Ideas, Actors, and Global Politics'.