The Involvement of Domestic Actors in Foreign Policy Making

103 Pages·2016·1.32 MB·English

by  Brede Ruben Nilsen

The Involvement of Domestic Actors
in Foreign Policy Making

The Netherlands and the Arctic

Johan Verbeek Wolthuys

Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies

Department of Political Science

UNIVERSITY OF OSLO

Spring 2016
II
The Involvement of Domestic Actors in
Foreign Policy Making
The Netherlands and the Arctic

A Case Study

Author: Supervisor:
Johan Verbeek Wolthuys Svein Vigeland Rottem

23 May 2016
Word count: 29610

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© Johan Verbeek Wolthuys
2016
The Involvement of Domestic Actors in Foreign Policy Making: The Netherlands and the
Arctic
Johan Verbeek Wolthuys
http://www.duo.uio.no/
Print: Fridtjof Nansens Institutt
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Abstract
The Netherlands has intermittently been active in the Arctic since the seventeenth
century, but it was not until the early 2000s that a foreign policy covering its Arctic
priorities was created.

In April 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands published the Polar
Strategy 2016-2020 to present and clarify its objectives in the Polar Regions as well as
the instruments to reach them.

The main research question considered in this thesis is: To what extent were domestic
stakeholders involved in the framing of the priorities of the Netherlands vis-à-vis the
Arctic?

Using three conceptual models developed by Graham T. Allison (1971) to facilitate the
measurement of the level of stakeholder involvement, three types of dynamics are
considered in the development process. Firstly, the main policy maker (the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, MFA) is free to involve stakeholders at its own convenience, deciding to
accept their input or not (Model I); secondly, the policy maker acts as a coordinator of an
organized structure of contributors (Model II); and the MFA one player among several
others, and it has to bargain with those actors in order to achieve its objectives (Model
III).

This thesis finds that characteristics all three types of dynamics between involved actors
and the MFA can be identified simultaneously in the policy making process. This
indicates that domestic stakeholders are to a varying degree involved in the policy
making process. The extent of their involvement seems to depend on whether their non-
involvement in the policy making effort would jeopardize the process. As various
different types of actors are forming a more organized structure, it becomes more
challenging to categorize the actors as belonging to one of Allison’s conceptual models.

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Acknowledgements

Many have helped me during the writing of this thesis. I would like to thank a few of
them here.
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the Fridtjof Nansen
Insitute (FNI). Not only was I offered a place to write this thesis as a Graduate Student
Researcher, but FNI also financially supported my fieldwork in the Netherlands. I
especially enjoyed the comfortable, welcoming, and inspiring work environment at FNI.
A special thank you goes to my supervisor Svein Vigeland Rottem (Head
Researcher of the Arctic Program at FNI). His knowledge, creativity, and ability to
motivate contributed to making this experience a very pleasant one.
Ambassador Bea Ten Tusscher and Arne O’Donoghue from the Embassy of the
Netherlands to Norway deserve to be mentioned here. The idea to write on this topic
was born while working alongside them as an intern. Their support has been an asset to
the completion of this project.
My fellow students, both at the University of Oslo and FNI, have been a constant
source of encouragement and support. I am very grateful for the time we were able to
work and study together.
I would also like to thank the Van Beek family, as well as Anna Köberich and Peter
J. Coles, for hosting me when I was doing fieldwork in the Netherlands. Their help is
highly appreciated.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and friends for their
constant interest in my work, words of advice, and continued backing.

All inaccuracies remain my own.

Johan Verbeek Wolthuys
Polhøgda, 23 May 2016

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Contents
The Involvement of Domestic Actors in Foreign Policy Making ......................................... III
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... V
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... VII
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Specification of Topic ................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 6
1.3.1 Methodological Framework ............................................................................... 6
1.3.2 Data ...................................................................................................................... 8
1.3.3 Qualitative Interview Design ............................................................................. 9
1.4 Structure ................................................................................................................... 11
2 Theory .............................................................................................................................. 13
2.1 Allison’s Conceptual Models ................................................................................... 14
2.1.1 Model I ............................................................................................................... 15
2.1.2 Model II .............................................................................................................. 17
2.1.3 Model III ............................................................................................................ 20
2.2 Critique ..................................................................................................................... 22
3 Background ..................................................................................................................... 24
3.1 Historical perspective .............................................................................................. 24
3.2 The Polar Strategy .................................................................................................... 28
3.2.1 Climate and environment ................................................................................ 29
3.2.2 Economic considerations ................................................................................. 32
3.2.3 Geopolitics and governance ............................................................................. 34
3.3 Summary ................................................................................................................... 37
4 Empirical Data and Analysis .......................................................................................... 39
4.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 39
4.2 The Stakeholders ..................................................................................................... 40
4.2.1 Ministry of Foreign Affairs ................................................................................ 43
4.2.2 Domestic actors: Climate and environment ....................................................... 44
4.2.3 Domestic actors: Economic considerations ........................................................ 53
4.2.4 Domestic actors: Geopolitics and governance ................................................... 62
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4.3 Dutch Arctic Circle ................................................................................................... 65
4.4 Summary ................................................................................................................... 68
5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 74
Literature list .......................................................................................................................... 78
Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 87
Annex 1: Arctic boundaries .................................................................................................. 87
Annex 2: Informants ........................................................................................................... 88
Annex 3: Interview guides ................................................................................................. 90

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