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International forces often have less of an impact on a nation's foreign policy than domestic ones. This is due to the fact that political leaders have to put their domestic legitimacy, stability, and support first. Governments often select the course of action that best safeguards their domestic status when domestic expectations—such as growing nationalism, economic hardship, or popular outrage—conflict with international regulations or foreign demands. In contrast to domestic backlash, international pressure frequently takes the shape of criticism or diplomatic repercussions, which are typically less immediate and less dangerous to a leader's existence.

China's actions in the South China Sea provide a compelling illustration of this dynamic. The Permanent Court of Arbitration declared in 2016 that China's territory claims were not supported by international law. China flatly rejected the verdict despite strong international pressure to abide by it. The primary cause was domestic: the Communist Party's political legitimacy is based on Chinese nationalism and the idea of protecting "territorial integrity." The Chinese people would have seen accepting the decision as a sign of weakness, which might have harmed the government's reputation. As a result, Beijing decided to stick to its strong position despite criticism from around the world.

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In most cases, domestic pressures tend to influence a country’s foreign policy more because governments rely on internal legitimacy, public support, and political survival. Leaders often prioritize what maintains power at home, even if it creates tension with international expectations. However, this can vary depending on the state’s level of power, economic dependence, and international alliances. An example of this is Russia. Russia faced strong international pressure sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and global condemnation. Yet, its foreign policy was driven more strongly by domestic pressures such as nationalism, regime security, and the need for the government to project strength to maintain internal legitimacy. Despite international rules against aggression, the Kremlin prioritized domestic narratives about protecting Russian identity and resisting Western influence

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Usually, international pressures influence a country’s foreign policy more than domestic pressures. This is because a state cant ignore global rules, economic sanctions, or its commitments to other countries. If it does, the international consequences can be very serious economic isolation, loss of trade, or security risks. Domestic factors like nationalism or economic problems still matter, but when they clash with international expectations, governments often choose the option that avoids major external costs.

Example:

During Greece’s financial crisis, the public strongly opposed the austerity measures demanded by the EU. This was a domestic pressure. But despite the protests, Greece still accepted the EU’s conditions because rejecting them would have led to even worse economic collapse.

→ In this case, international pressure was stronger

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When domestic pressures conflict with international pressures, domestic pressures usually have a stronger influence on a country’s foreign policy. This is because leaders must maintain political legitimacy, satisfy voters or powerful domestic groups, and ensure internal stability. Ignoring domestic demands often brings higher political costs than ignoring international expectations.

Example

A clear example is Brexit (United Kingdom).Internationally, the EU encouraged the UK to remain because leaving would harm economic integration and cooperation. However, domestic pressures—such as rising nationalism, anti-immigration sentiment, and political competition within the Conservative Party—were much stronger. As a result, the British government chose to leave the EU despite economic disadvantages and international criticism.

This shows that domestic political pressure can outweigh international rules or expectations, shaping a country’s foreign policy in significant ways.

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Usually domestic more influential. For example, domestic US affairs would take precedent over its international affairs.

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Domestic pressures tend to influence a country’s foreign policy more because leaders must maintain internal legitimacy, political support, and economic stability to stay in power. Domestic nationalism, public opinion, and economic performance often constrain how far a state can comply with international rules. However, international pressures still matter, especially when great-power influence, global markets, or treaty obligations create costs for defying external expectations.

Example: China and the South China Sea.
Although international pressures—such as UNCLOS rulings and ASEAN expectations—encourage China to follow global maritime norms, domestic nationalism and regime legitimacy push the government to take a firmer stance, build artificial islands, and assert historical claims. Beijing prioritizes these domestic pressures because appearing “weak” would undermine national pride and the Communist Party’s internal legitimacy. This shows that domestic drivers can outweigh international constraints even when global rules oppose the state’s actions.

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Domestic pressure often exert greater influence on a country's foreign policy rather than international pressure. An example is the 2003 invasion of the U.S. in Iraq. Despite international pressure against the invasion, the U.S. went through its decision due to a surge of nationalism and public fear in the U.S. as the government linked Iraq to terrorism and prioritized military action. this illustrates how internal factors outweigh external in shaping foreign policy.

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The FP decision making usually was bound with the domestic factors. Especially in the democratic states, the domestic political leaders will need to comply with the national will to gain domestic supports, to maintain its stability and legitimacy of their regime. However, its 2 exemption, firstly the dictator states that political leaders can ignore the domestic national will to comply with the interntional pressure for certain interests. Besides that, the interdependence of the states in the international level.

Example:

Malaysia's respond in the Rohingyas issue, firstly, Malaysian have the political will to help the Muslims groups on gaining domestic political supports by the Malay Muslims rather than just simply complying to the decision of international organisation

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Domestic pressures usually influence a country’s foreign policy more because leaders must maintain political legitimacy at home, respond to public opinion, and address economic or security needs that directly affect their survival. While international pressures such as global rules or foreign expectations matter, governments rarely adopt policies that risk domestic backlash. A clear example is China in the South China Sea: despite international pressure and a 2016 arbitration ruling against its claims, China rejected the decision and continued asserting control because nationalism and regime legitimacy at home made appearing “weak” internationally politically unacceptable.

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domestic pressures are more influential than international pressures because the domestic pressure will impact more in the nation rather than international. furthermore, domestic pressure will affect a certain's country foreign policy more which leaders primary goal is for political survival. a government will set its foreign policy boundaries based on what the population agrees on (domestic win-set).

example:

in 2016, the UK leaves the EU, even though there are several international pressures from the US, IMF,& OECD to keep UK remain in the EU. As a result, due to its strong nationalism which desire by stricter immigration control, over 50% voted out that the UK leaves the EU and despite many international risks, domestical pressures are critical and cant be ignored.