US foreign policy and the 2011 Arab uprisings : analysing the cases of Libya and Bahrain

Abstract

This dissertation sets out to critically analyse, through a Realist conceptual framework, the foreign policy of the United States (US) in relation to the Arab uprisings of 2011, a wave of unrest which threatened to capsize the geopolitical equation of the Middle East dominated by the US - the hegemon - and its allies in the region. To analyse US foreign policy in this context, the dissertation will focus on two particular case studies from different sub-regional security complexes: the uprisings in Libya and Bahrain. Thereafter, the research will aim to establish a comparative synthesis of that which is established in the cases of Libya and Bahrain. This dissertation, moreover, draws on data obtained from primary accounts, speeches, articles, reports, and recently declassified State Department cables. The final analysis suggests that US foreign policy in relation to the Arab uprisings was asymmetrical, shifting against the Qaddafi regime in Libya, while maintaining its relationship with the Al Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain. Despite grounding its discourse in liberal values, US policies within specific countries such as Bahrain and Libya were informed by the dynamics of power and the necessities of maintaining hegemony in a region whose geostrategic importance is only increasing with the gradual return of great power politics. While the extant literature depicts US foreign policy as a struggle between a dichotomy of Liberal values and Realist interests, findings suggest that the US employed Liberal justifications in order to achieve Realist objectives. This implies that Liberal discourse in international relations tends to be applied as a foreign policy tool to advance the strategic Realist interests of states.