ABSTRACT
This introductory essay starts out with a discussion about what defines the interface of domestic and external factors in theoretical terms followed by a specific case study of India’s policy-making process. It then concentrates on the debate about what defines ‘national interest’ and attempts to deconstruct the concept, which seems to be quite unclear in the evolving theoretical literature. The next section gives a brief assessment of the three phases of India’s foreign policy with a focus on interlocking conflicts in historical perspective. Further, the next section discusses how domestic and international factors intermesh in foreign policy and how the articulation of national interest in itself becomes the core issue in defining and understanding how competing views clash.
