foreign policy

noun

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

Definition of foreign policy

: the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states

Recent Examples of foreign policy from the Web

Israel’s prime minister faces a problem as his foreign policy goal of winning allies among East European nations is coming into tension with the need to be honest about the historical record.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Israeli historian accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of whitewashing Polish complicity in the Holocaust.," 5 July 2018
The brittle post-punk of War captured the nuclear tension of the early 1980s, while The Joshua Tree imbued its critiques of American foreign policy a half-decade later with a Reaganesque optimism about American potential.

— jonathan bradley, Billboard, "Dream Up the World You're Gonna Live In: How U2's 'Zooropa' Got the Future Wrong, 25 Years Later," 5 July 2018
Queen Elizabeth II named the actress an honorary Dame Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George for extraordinary service to U.K. foreign policy in 2014.

— kayleigh roberts, Marie Claire, "Angelina Jolie Just Channeled Meghan Markle's Royal Style," 28 June 2018
On foreign policy, their views also track, both speaking of a robust military to ensure America's preeminent place in the world.

— bill glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Republican Kevin Nicholson stresses foreign policy in Wisconsin U.S. Senate race," 18 June 2018
Without allies and treaties, without universal values, American foreign policy largely depends on what goes on inside Trump’s head.

— george packer, The New Yorker, "Donald Trump Goes Rogue," 17 June 2018
Wilson’s unwavering belief in racial segregation has drawn more scrutiny in recent years, as students at Princeton demanded (to no avail) that his name be removed from their school of foreign policy.

— kate keller, Smithsonian, "Woodrow Wilson’s Papers Go Digital, Leaving Microfiche Behind," 9 June 2018
In the summer and fall of 2016, Halper, then an emeritus professor at Cambridge, contacted three Trump campaign advisers for brief talks and meetings that largely centered on foreign policy, The Washington Post reported last week.

— drew broach, NOLA.com, "After Texas school shooting, Steve Scalise says removing prayer 'one of the problems': report," 22 May 2018
The march of hundreds of Central Americans who arrived at the US border at Tijuana, Mexico, at the end of April, 2018, became the focus of a number of debates involving US domestic and foreign policy.

— Houston Chronicle, "3rd local candidate in Mexico's July 1 voting killed in week," 12 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'foreign policy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.