Between Constructive Engagement and Overt Confrontation: U.S. Foreign Policy towards Syria in the post-Cold War Era (1989-2009)

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2023-2-8
Salık, Nuri
This dissertation seeks to analyze U.S. foreign policy towards Syria in the post-Cold War era by deploying role theory. By covering the period from 1989 to 2009, the dissertation aims to shed light on special dynamics, peculiarities, and events in U.S. foreign policy towards Syria under the presidencies of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. The study contends that focusing on each administration's policy towards Syria rather than tracing continuity of themes such as international terrorism charges, rogue state accusations, and the WMD issue offers a better picture of the U.S.-Syrian relations in the post-Cold War era. The dissertation also puts forward that role theory enables us to make sense of conflict and cooperation between the two countries in the post-Cold War era. The dissertation argues that U.S. foreign policy towards Syria is shaped by its national role conceptions (NRCs) and their performance. The study also argues that Syria's compliance or non-compliance with the NRCs of the United States shaped contours of bilateral relations between 1989 to 2009.

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Citation Formats
N. Salık, “Between Constructive Engagement and Overt Confrontation: U.S. Foreign Policy towards Syria in the post-Cold War Era (1989-2009),” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2023.