A foreign policy doctrine is a general statement of foreign policy. 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 Vietnam, 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. 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

• Drago Doctrine

Germany

• Hallstein Doctrine

Russia / Soviet Union

• Brezhnev Doctrine
• Sinatra Doctrine

United States

• 1823: Monroe Doctrine
• 1932: Stimson Doctrine
• 1947: Truman Doctrine
• 1957: Eisenhower Doctrine
• 1969: Nixon Doctrine
• 1980: Carter Doctrine
• 1981: Kirkpatrick Doctrine
• 1985: Reagan Doctrine
• 1990: Powell Doctrine
• 1999: Clinton Doctrine
• 2002: Bush Doctrine, Bush administration doctrine of military preeminence

See also:

• Military doctrine