how to learn more about foreign policy in 2 weeks?

[wombifat]

After doing a practice exam i've realised that my weakest area is foreign policy, but i've learnt all the stuff that the book has to say about foreign policy, it's just such a vague area! does anyone know any website or anything that might give some good information about australian foreign policy? Thanks

[vcehistory.info]

I'd start here at Malcolm Farnsworth's site:

http://australianpolitics.com/old/foreign-policy

Foreign policy is different to domestic policy because it's usually not legislated so is pretty much formulated on the fly by the executive, especially the PM, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and DFAT. There's five key things to know in terms of what shapes and influences foreign policy:

1. Foreign trade - to further our national economic interest
2. Global and regional security - to keep us and our region safe and stable
3. Maintaining alliances - so we have strong political, economic and military friends
4. Multilateral forums - e.g. UN, APEC, G20
5. Foreign aid - to be a responsible global citizen and help development in our region

If you can get a handle on those things and find some current or recent examples for each then you should be giggling.