The article is devoted to the study of the role of national and religious identities in the emergence of statehood and in the formation of the foreign policy of the state as a subject of international relations. A comparative empirical analysis of the foreign policies of various states indicates the presence of a cause-and-effect relationship between norms formed on the basis of national and religious identities in societies within states and the adoption of foreign policy decisions by the leaders of these countries. This article examines the factor of identity as the basis for the emergence of statehood, as well as the role of national and religious identities as social norms that influence the formation of the external agenda of the state.
