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The findings of this research will shed light on the role played by governing partiesof the left in informing and directing states’ foreign policies. These findings will begeneralisable to the extent that a state has the capacity for activist, independentforeign policy; and are availed of international opportunities, presented by openingsin the management of global affairs by the great powers. It is of utility inunderstanding why certain states pursue certain strands of foreign policy, and alsoprovides guidance as to the conditions under which political parties may beinfluential in the making of foreign policy, especially foreign policy that isindependent and autonomous of the influence of any external power. The findingswill not apply to states that cannot formulate foreign policy independently. It ismore likely to be applicable to those states that possess the resources and inclinationto be able to choose how they respond to external stimuli, or more broadly, middleor intermediate powers in international affairs.By way of addressing the five puzzles outlined earlier, this research bears resonancefor five broad areas:• IR theory: IR theory has paid scant attention to emerging powers, a lack thatneoclassical realism may potentially fill. While numerous studies have beenconducted on the rise of Western states in history, there are not many booklengthtreatments with an explicit theoretical focus on less ‘traditional’emerging powers, 63 or indeed those that have risen in recent years, post-9/11, and indeed, post-Cold War. In addition, there are no major studies todate that apply a neoclassical realist approach to emerging powers outsidethe West. 64• FPA: The role of governing parties in determining national foreign policypriorities and perspectives is under-represented in the foreign policy analysisliterature. Especially in the light of Latin America’s ‘Pink Revolution’ of theearly 21 st century, in which a number of states came under the leadership ofgovernments of the left, it is vitally important to understand the extent to63 While it is recognised that there are numerous country studies of foreign policy, thereare few that analyse the emergence of new powers from outside the western world. Afew recent exceptions are: Sumit Ganguly, ed., India as an Emerging Power (London:Frank Cass, 2003); Alistair I. Johnston and Robert S. Ross, eds., Engaging China: themanagement of an emerging power. (New York: Routledge, 1999); James I. Matray,Japan’s emergence as a global power (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001).64 A minor exception is Braz Baracuhy, “A Crise da Liga das Nações de 1926: RealismoNeoclássico, Multilateralismo e a Natureza da Política Externa Brasileira”, ContextoInternacional, 28, No.2 (2006).47