The Impact of Ideology on the Proportion of Use of Soft and Hard Power in United States Middle East Foreign Policy (Case Study Arabs and Israel)

Subject Areas :

Mehrdad Halalkhor ¹ , Mohammd Mehdi Babjannejad ²

1 - کارشناسی ارشد روابط بین الملل دانشگاه تهران [e-mail]
2 - دانشجوی دکتری فقه و اصول حوزه علمیه قم [e-mail]

Received: 2010-11-25 Accepted : 2011-12-25 Published : 2011-12-01

Keywords: Israel, Foreign Policy, Soft power, Ideology, neo, Conservatism, Arabs,

Abstract :

The definition of national interest in different period of time and circumstances has not been and is not identical for governments in the world. Therefore the national interest to a considerable extent depends on different interpretations. In this regard ideology is an effective variable in the United States political arena and it helps one to understand better the changes in the foreign policy of this country in different span of time and different interpretation of national interest. The present article wants to examine the place and importance of ideology in administration of Clinton, Bush junior and Obama to know what have been the changes in the proportion of use of hard and soft power in regard of Arabs, Palestinian and Israel disputes. The article tries to link these two subjects, one the place of ideology in foreign policy of the United States and second the proportion of use of hard and soft power in regard to question of Arabs, Palestinian and Israel. The article then concludes that the tendency to use force during Bush junior administration was due to their neo-conservative ideology.