A foreign policy doctrine is a general statement of foreign policy and belief system through a doctrine. In some cases, the statement is made by a political leader, typically a nation’s chief executive or chief diplomat, and comes to be named after that leader. Richard Nixon’s justification for the phased withdrawal of the United States from the Vietnam War, for example, came to be called the Nixon Doctrine. This pattern of naming is not universal, however; Chinese doctrines, for example, are often referred to by number.
The purpose of a foreign policy doctrine is to provide general rules for the conduct of foreign policy through decisions on international relations. These rules allow the political leadership of a nation to deal with a situation and to explain the actions of a nation to other nations. “Doctrine” is usually not meant to have any negative connotations; it is especially not to be confused with “dogma.”
Argentina
Denmark
- Ellemann–Jensen doctrine
Germany
Finland
- Paasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine
India
- Gujral Doctrine
Japan
Mexico
Russia / Soviet Union
United States
- 1823: Monroe Doctrine
- 1842: Tyler Doctrine
- 1900: Roosevelt Doctrine
- 1932: Stimson Doctrine
- 1947: Truman Doctrine
- 1957: Eisenhower Doctrine
- 1961: Kennedy Doctrine
- 1965: Johnson Doctrine
- 1969: Nixon Doctrine
- 1980: Carter Doctrine
- 1981: Kirkpatrick Doctrine
- 1984: Weinberger Doctrine
- 1985: Reagan Doctrine
- 1990: Powell Doctrine
- 1999: Clinton Doctrine
- 2002: Bush Doctrine
- 2002: Rumsfeld Doctrine
- 2016: Obama Doctrine