U.S. Policy Towards Iraq, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia

Evaluation of Relative Importance of Democracy Promotion, Power Politics, and Oil in Determining U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabic After 9/11

Overview of CHAPTER I: Introduction

All governments pursue in the course of their regular activities the development and execution of foreign policies, policies ideally designed to promote the interests of the nation-state and to position it favorably with respect to its competitors or neighbors (Sodaro, 2004). By definition, foreign policy in any country tends to be formed around nationalism, defined as a consciously formulated set of political ideas that emphasize the distinctiveness and unity of the country, specifying common interests, and prescribing goals for action (Sodaro, 2004).

In the context of international affairs, foreign policies become key mechanism for structuring both bilateral and multilateral relationships between nation-states. Such policies are more than ideological positions; they are representative of the actual framework within which political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and social interactions will occur. There are any number of theories describing the policy formation process and orientation. In this study, three theoretical perspectives will be examined with respect to their relative significance in shaping American foreign policy toward the target states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. These are theories of American imperialism (a

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arsheimer (2005, p. 1) calls this "Wilsonianism with teeth." From the ideals of Woodrow Wilson, the neoconservatives have acquired the idealistic view that democracy is, to paraphrase Voltaire's "Candide," "the best of all possible governments" and consequently should be advanced throughout the world regardless of whether or not a particular country wishes to become a democracy. Conversely, Mearsheimer (2005) notes that neoconservatives are correct in their belief that the United States has a remarkably powerful military that can be used to reshape the world to suit its own interests. It is here that the geopolitical realist strategists come into their own. Michael Mastanduno (1997), writing before George W. Bush became president and long before September 11, 2001, asserted that the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War reshaped U.S. grand strategy and placed the United States in a position in which it could flex its political muscle by using the threat of its military muscle and its economic influence to push its own agenda forward on the geopolitical stage. This particular view harkens back to the fundamental principles of nationalism which Mastanduno (1997) sees as shaping American policies in the ear

Category: Government - U