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<JournalTitle>ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES</JournalTitle>
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<EISSN/>
<Volume-Issue>Volume 6 Issue 3</Volume-Issue>
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<IssueTopic>Multidisciplinary</IssueTopic>
<IssueLanguage>English</IssueLanguage>
<Season>Dec 2025-Jan 2026</Season>
<SpecialIssue>N</SpecialIssue>
<SupplementaryIssue>N</SupplementaryIssue>
<IssueOA>Y</IssueOA>
<PubDate>
<Year>2026</Year>
<Month>01</Month>
<Day>31</Day>
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<ArticleType>International Relations</ArticleType>
<ArticleTitle>Explaining Foreign Policy Change: The Role of Transnational Non-state Actors in the Syrian Civil War</ArticleTitle>
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<ArticleLanguage>English</ArticleLanguage>
<ArticleOA>Y</ArticleOA>
<FirstPage>380</FirstPage>
<LastPage>397</LastPage>
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<Author>
<FirstName>Dr Chirasree</FirstName>
<LastName>Mukherjee</LastName>
<AuthorLanguage>English</AuthorLanguage>
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<CorrespondingAuthor>N</CorrespondingAuthor>
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<DOI>10.47362/EJSSS.2026.6301</DOI>
<Abstract>Foreign policy change deals with the shift __ampersandsignndash; major or minor, in a state__ampersandsignrsquo;s foreign policy. The parameters that account for such a change are understood in terms of their nature (structural or conjunctural) and origin (domestic or international). Existing literature is inadequate to explain international conjunctural parameters in understanding foreign policy change. Most of the existing research concentrates on state as the unit of analysis. The impact of transnational non-state actors (NSA) to bring about such change is largely overlooked. It is hypothesized that the presence or absence of a transnational NSA in an international security crisis significantly influences the foreign policy decision of a state acting as a third-party. Specifically, the rise or presence of a transnational NSA realigns third-party foreign policy towards active intervention, whereas in its absence, interventions generally tend to be passive. This paper concentrates on the Syrian civil war as a case study to explain the influence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a transnational NSA in bringing about change in United States__ampersandsignrsquo; foreign policy as a third-party in the conflict.</Abstract>
<AbstractLanguage>English</AbstractLanguage>
<Keywords>Foreign Policy Change, Third party, Non-State Actors, Syrian Civil War, ISIS, United States’ Foreign Policy</Keywords>
<URLs>
<Abstract>https://www.ejsss.net.in/ubijournal-v1copy/journals/abstract.php?article_id=16107&title=Explaining Foreign Policy Change: The Role of Transnational Non-state Actors in the Syrian Civil War</Abstract>
</URLs>
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<ReferenceslastPage>19</ReferenceslastPage>
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