International relations, national interests and foreign policy making in the Middle East

Abstract

A proper analysis of the foreign policies of the Middle Eastern countries should accept that it is a part of the general situation in the developing world. In this sense, the foreign policy process cannot be separated from the domestic social structure or the domestic political process in these Arab Countries. These countries are also a part and parcel of a world system. They are greatly affected by international stratification. It is thus important to see how external constraints and global structures (e.g. relations with major powers and the International Financial Institutions) affect their foreign policy-making process and international behavior. Foreign policy restructuring entails a major alteration or break-up in the orientation of an actor in favor of establishing a new set of commitments and alliances both on the international and regional levels. It is more than a change in tactics or instruments of policy implementation; it also goes beyond the fluctuations and oscillations which are characteristic of the foreign policy behavior of many developing countries. It involves a basic reconsideration of an actor's perceptions of the global or regional system and of the country's role within that framework. Indicators of the restructuring of foreign policy orientation include patterns of diplomatic, economic, military and cultural relations between the country and the outside world. The research addresses the question of the ways in which the leadership's interaction with the internal and external environment produced the complex phenomena of certain foreign policy acts at certain historical periods under specific circumstances. The salience of economic considerations in the formulation of Egypt's foreign policy in the 1970's may be best understood not only through an examination of the economic constraints of that period, but also by analyzing the political underpinnings and strings that were attached to them and how the leadership's role, personality and perceptions interacted with these internal and external variables resulting in the adoption of certain regional and global policies. The perseverance of Egypt on the issue of nuclear nonproliferation and the question of a nuclear free zone in the Middle East, reflects a confirmation of Sadat‘s pragmatic approach to Foreign Policy and the unique position hold in the region. The issue of nuclear disarmament is sensitive in the Middle East, and Egypt‘s place of leadership, not to mention its dialogue with Israel and the West, is key to the advancement of a non-nuclear strategy.