Abstract
THE PARADOXES OF AMERICAN INTERVENTIONISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST: FROM COLD WAR TO SEPTEMBER 11
The September 11 attacks led to permanent changes in the US foreign policy strategies as the key actor of the international system, reshaped after the Cold War. Especially with the Cold War period, the recent history of the Middle East has been determined by the foreign policy doctrines of American administrations, which are mostly unilaterally involved in intervening in the domestic affairs of the countries of the region in order to maximize the national interests of the United States. From the Cold War to the post-9/11 period, the American foreign policy has continued in the context of maximizing national interests and changing security perceptions. However, with regard to regional issues and the involvement of countries’ internal affairs, American interventionism has deviated from the context of bilateral relations with the countries in the Middle East as in the Cold War era, and has started to experience a legitimacy crisis. In this article, the Middle East policy of the United States, in terms of persistence and change inclinations in foreign policy analysis, was examined to include the periods of Cold War and September 11 attacks and occupation of Iraq.
Keywords
American foreign policy, the Middle East, American interventionism
