Using a comparative trend analysis for fifteen states in the Middle East during President George W. Bush's eight year administration, this paper provides one method for answering the research question, "What was the priority/focus of U.S. Middle East policy during the W. Bush Administration?" Within the context of international relations theories neorealism, neoliberalism, and neoconservatism, U.S. policy is broken down into three policy priorities: stability, security, and democracy promotion and measured for each state for each year of the administration. Line graphs illustrate the changes from year to year and linear trend lines indicate the direction of change as positive, negative, or neutral. The results are used to validate the three working hypotheses: 1) if the U.S. views stability as paramount, then its foreign policy will be to support the status quo regimes, 2) if the U.S. wants to maintain security, then its foreign policy will be to demonstrate power projection via its military, and 3) if the U.S. aims at democracy promotion, the its foreign policy will be to implement economic aid and assistance programs to reform non-democratic governments and strengthen existing democratic institutions. Eleven states confirmed the stability hypothesis, nine states confirmed the security hypothesis, and twelve states confirmed the democracy promotion hypothesis. There was no discernable pattern between the trends across states indicating that the U.S. consistently pursued one policy priority over the others. There were only two complete cases in which a state had only one positive trending policy priority. / Master of Arts

No / This paper assesses the economic and political determinants of IMF and World Bank program loans to the Middle East and North Africa. First we assess what is already known about the geo-political influences on aid flows to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the potential for this to operate via the IMF and World Bank. From this we conclude that there is scope for IMF and World Bank lending in the region to respond to the political interests of their major shareholders, particularly the United States. We support these arguments with both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of the determinants of World Bank and IMF program lending to the region, focusing on both economic need in the MENA countries and the politics of donor interest before concluding.

No / Supply chain management (SCM) as one of the important research topics plays a major role in performance of organizations/stakeholders operating as the supply chain tiers. Many studies have been published to find the best theory and strategy, which can be applied to each industry or market. SCM is still a developing field and there are still gaps in understanding what its design strategies and boundaries are. There are two major modes of managing supply chain (i) lean supply chain which emphasize supply chain efficiency and (ii) agile supply chains which emphasize supply chain responsiveness and flexibility. This chapter reviews two modes of lean and agile supply chain in Information Technology (IT) distribution field in the emerging markets in the Middle East. The chapter presents key characteristics of lean and agile supply chains in IT industry. It investigates how a suitable supply chain policy can be adopted by IT hardware and services distributors in the Middle East through a case study. Is it a lean supply chain policy which emphasizes efficiency? Or is it an agile supply chain policy which emphasizes responsiveness and flexibility? Or is it an integrated lean-agile policy based on specific activities aimed at specific results? The chapter discusses leanness and agility with a focus on the main activities carried out by IT distributors that include orders processing, professional services, inventory and logistic services. IT industry has been characterized by continuous and rapid market and customer requirements changes. These changes are applicable on all IT products/services such as networking, information security, software, service support, smart phones, IP telephony, CCTV, wireless…etc. Therefore, in IT industry, both manufacturing and service operation should be included in planning processes across its supply chain. The primary data was acquired through specifically designed interviews. The questions were based on the core factors investigated in the literature of operation management, strategic management and marketing related to IT supply chain. The core factors, which are found critical are customer satisfaction, process management, inventory levels, capabilities and services provided, are explored and analyzed through a case study in the Middle East.

Since its foundation, the Islamic Republic of Iran has developed its relationship with non-state allies throughout the Middle East and beyond, often using them to engage in proxy warfare with its enemies. This topic has seen increasing attention by academics and policy-makers. Using the proxy groups as case studies and classical comparison, this thesis analyzes what drives Iran to deploy these proxies to wage war on its enemies, and under which circumstances Iran does not engage in proxy warfare, as well as the factors that make Iran develop lasting and deep relationships with its proxies and under which circumstances these relationships stay superficial. Three main hypotheses are tested: first the identity-based hypothesis, that Iran feels compelled to help fellow Shias and the Palestinians in their struggles against local oppressors, the West and Israel, being driven by a responsibility to protect them born out of Shia religion and Khomeinist revolutionary ideology, together forming the Axis of resistance. Second the power-based hypothesis, that Iran is primarily driven by realist concerns to defend and secure itself and its sphere of influence, making proxies Iran’s pawns. Lastly a factionalism-based hypothesis, an alternative explanation is competition between the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Foreign Ministry as causing the IRGC to engage with proxies to pursue their foreign policy. By testing these three hypotheses in several case studies spanning four decades and geographically the Middle East and beyond, this thesis presents a comprehensive approach to the reasons behind Iranian proxy warfare as well as a contribution to a more identity and ideology focused approach to the study of proxy wars.

Iran has come to the forefront of media and policy discussion in recent years due to the renewal of nuclear prospects within the complex nation. The media and much of the west has taken notice of the situation and made predictions and assertions often leading toward nuclear war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the west often forgets our relationship with Iran when Muhammad Reza Shah, the last of the Shah's, was in power. From 1941 to 1979 the United States enjoyed peaceful relations with Iran; the two nations even reached a certain economic prosperity with each other. The Shah introduced reform that was pleasurable to the United States and in return, America traded and invested in Iran, including establishing a nuclear program in Iran and building a number of nuclear facilities. In 2005 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, formally the mayor of Tehran, was elected the great eye of the United States turned once again to Iran, viewing it as a threat. This study explores the Shah's rule and Ahmadinejad's presidency; and perhaps more importantly, the American foreign policy that was established for both. A brief history of both Iranian leaders, their complexities; the external and internal factors that effected each individually and as a leader of the great nation will be followed by a comparison of both using the foreign policy of the United States as a medium for comparison. This thesis will perhaps expose an often ignored perspective on American Iranian foreign relations.

Anti-Americanism in the Middle East is a growing trend that must be addressed. This study has compiled the three greatest contributors to anti-Americanism in the region: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, U.S. foreign policy and the patrimonial leadership style of the Middle East. The understanding and improvement of these three factors would bring about a decrease in animosity toward the U.S. which would bring waves of benefits worldwide.

Although it is a relatively small and young country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has historically stood out among nations by its ability to retain its independent line of thought in the face of considerable influences. While the UAE has primarily stood in the Western venue of world politics and international relations it has also resisted Western pressure on many occasions, and has flourished both politically and economically in doing so. In "Clash of Civilizations," Samuel Huntington argues that Islam and the West cannot coexist peacefully, and that the future of world politics will be a clash between the two. This study will contradict his thesis by providing an example of an Islamic nation that has been able to develop and maintain peaceful and prosperous relations with both the Middle East and the West, along with the rest of the world. The very neutral foreign policy that the UAE has adopted has proven to be very successful This thesis will not only contradict Huntington's observations but discuss the development of UAE foreign policy in-depth, from its early beginnings to the recent death of its first President, Sheikh Zayed. The UAE's bilateral relationships with both Arab and non-Arab states, including many powerful global nations will also be examined.

No description available.

This thesis aims to analyze the development of the collective policies of the European Union towards the Middle East by focusing on the reasons behind the formulation of these policies, and the degree of success, failure and prospects of these policies. The general success of the European Community in the 1970s created a desire for European states to form a coordinated European foreign policy. Since the 1970s, the Community started to show willingness to shape international events and to strengthen its international role. The Middle East was one of the leading regions to which the Community turned in the early 1970s, an area, which, for historical and geographical reasons, is of vital interest to it. EU has been becoming a coherent and strategic actor in the Middle East since the 1990s. It has secured an important presence in the Middle East Peace Process and it has further strengthened its role in the Middle East through the adoption of a common, comprehensive regional strategy called the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and developed it with the initiation of the European Neighborhood Policy. However, the European Union&rsquo / s presence is still limited due to its institutional weaknesses, the lack of political unity among its member states, lack of political instruments and military capabilities.

ABSTRACT INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY AND THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST: A STATE OF THE FIELD STUDY Tekelioglu, Ahmet Selim M.Sc., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Meliha AltuniSik January 2009, 82 pages This thesis analyzes the level of interaction between International Relations theories and the literature on the international relations of the Middle East. The disciplines- area studies controversy is analyzed in a way to account for the low level of cooperation between International Relations as an academic discipline and Middle East studies. The thesis looks into the literature in order to demonstrate to what extent developments in International Relations theories informed the study of the international relations of the Middle East. The thesis emphasizes the need for a normative/ critical aprroach in order to overcome the bridge beween these fields caused by epistemological and methodological as well as by the political economy of scholarship informed by ideological rivalries.