AGENTS, STRUCTURES AND FOREIGN POLICY: EXPLAINING CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN REGIONAL FOREIGN POLICY OF SAUDI ARABIA

Date

2026-2-18

Author

Ay, Cihan

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This thesis aims to explain major predilections of Saudi Arabian foreign policy in the 21st century by proposing an analytical model based upon a critical realist resolution of the agent-structure debate in IR theory. By superimposing Roy Bhaskar’s Transformational Model of Social Activity (TMSA) with Margaret Archer’s Morphogenetic/Morphostatic (M/M) approach, the study advances a non-reductionist and relational approach designed to identify generative mechanisms, key agents, and social-structural conditions that collectively shape foreign policy practices. To trace both continuity and change in Saudi foreign policy, the thesis uses a comparative historical analysis of two distinct periods: the pre-2011 decade, defined by notable orientations of traditional policy, and the transformative post-2011 decade. This comparative lens is applied to three principal foreign policy cases: (a) Riyadh’s foreign affairs with regional states, (b) its stance on the Palestinian question, and (c) the evolution of the Saudi–U.S. strategic partnership. The analysis demonstrates that while the cardinal pillars of traditional Saudi foreign policy proved resilient during the pre-2011 period despite multifarious challenges, the post-2011 decade has been distinguished by significant departures from conventional policy. The transformation, the thesis argues, stems from convergent generative mechanisms operating across domestic, regional, and global domains, with the domestic restructuring of state–society relations serving as a critical catalyst. Therefore, these foreign policy dynamics are fully comprehensible only when situated within the ongoing morphogenetic and morphostatic cycles that characterize the interplay between relevant social structures and agential practices in each empirical case.

Subject Keywords

Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, Agency, Structure

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118501

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis