IR in the Middle East: Foreign Policy Analysis in Theoretical Approaches

Darwich, May; Kaarbo, Juliet

Abstract

Research on international relations of the Middle East (IRME) has suffered from a schism between International Relations (IR) theory and regional particularities. To address this, scholars have offered corrective accounts by adding domestic factors to IR structural approaches. Studies on IRME thus reflect the turn to decision-making and domestic politics that has recently occurred. This article develops a critical analysis of the domestic politics orientation in IRME. We argue that this scholarship ignores work in foreign policy analysis (FPA) with its psychological-oriented and agent-based dimensions and that this constitutes a missed opportunity for the study of the region. The article offers suggestions for incorporating FPA research into IRME and argues that an FPA perspective offers an alternative and complementary approach to the eclectic frameworks predominant in the scholarship on IRME.

Citation

Darwich, M., & Kaarbo, J. (2020). IR in the Middle East: Foreign Policy Analysis in Theoretical Approaches. International Relations, 34(2), 225-245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117819870238

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 4, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 20, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2019
• Journal: International Relations
• Print ISSN: 0047-1178
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2862
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 225-245
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117819870238
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1327145