Book offers a peek into the evolution Kenya’s foreign policy

From left: East African Education Publishers (EAEP) Chairman Dr Henry Chakava, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, former Foreign Affairs PS Amb. Boaz Mbaya and EAEP Managing Director Kiarie Kamau during the launch of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy book in Nairobi. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Kenya’s current campaign for a seat in the United Nations Security Council has focused public spot light on its overall foreign policy and diplomacy. Consequently, publication of Ambassador Boaz Kidiga Mbaya’s book on Kenya’s conduct of foreign affairs is timely.

He begins with an academic definition of the two concepts and their objectives. Foreign policy aims at securing national interests, while diplomacy is the management of international relations, or interactions between states, as guided by their constitutions. And these can be carried out through negotiations, coercion or use of force.