In recent years, historians and political scientists have sought to analyze the influence and involvement of neoconservatives or 'neocons' in U.S. foreign policy. Part of this effort has been...Show moreIn recent years, historians and political scientists have sought to analyze the influence and involvement of neoconservatives or 'neocons' in U.S. foreign policy. Part of this effort has been related to the rise of neoconservative figures to prominence during President Reagan's first term. This thesis adds to the growing literature on neoconservatism in the 1980s, focussing on the special relationship between the United States and Japan, and analyzing the impact of neoconservatives and neoconservative thinking on foreign policy in President Reagan's first term.Show less
Energy came to play a significant role in U.S. foreign policy during the twentieth century, particularly as a result of increasing import dependency. However, the last ten years has seen a...Show moreEnergy came to play a significant role in U.S. foreign policy during the twentieth century, particularly as a result of increasing import dependency. However, the last ten years has seen a remarkable transformation in the U.S. energy position that has been termed the shale revolution. The U.S. is now the world’s largest combined producer of oil and natural gas. This paper focuses on investigating how U.S. foreign policy has been impacted by the shale revolution, specifically looking at the strategies that have been adopted in order to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. The traditional divide in the literature on international energy affairs between realism and liberalism is critiqued. An international political economy approach to energy affairs is explained and utilised to show the successes and limitations of the U.S. approaches. The paper argues that the strategies adopted are more successful in advancing U.S. foreign policy goals where they are reflective of the principles of the IPE framework. This is demonstrated through an empirical approach that relies on two case studies that examine the role of the shale revolution, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Iran deal) and European energy security.Show less
This Bachelor dissertation will focus on America’s policy regarding the Iraqi Kurds and their quest for autonomy between 1958 and 1975, in the context of Washington’s seventeen year-long Cold War...Show moreThis Bachelor dissertation will focus on America’s policy regarding the Iraqi Kurds and their quest for autonomy between 1958 and 1975, in the context of Washington’s seventeen year-long Cold War competition during these years with the Soviet Union for influence in Iraq. Was foreign policy of the United States towards the Iraqi Kurds contradictory or consistent between 1958 and 1975? What factors determined Washington’s policy towards the Iraqi Kurds between 1958 and 1975? And what factors caused it to change? These are the main research questions which should provide sufficient insight in Washington’s motives and goals which determined its policy on the Iraqi Kurds, and should explain how that policy finally took shape. First of all, Washington’s main policy interests in relation to the Iraqi Kurds during General Qasim’s regime from 1958 till 1963 will be examined. Second, the main U.S. policy interests regarding the Iraqi Kurds during the Ba’athist regime of 1963 and during the presidencies of the brothers Arif will be investigated. And finally, these same U.S. policy interests will be examined during the Ba’athist regime of President al-Bakr from July 1968, until the 1975 Algiers Agreement between Iran and Iraq. During these three separate periods, this dissertation will also focus on how these U.S. interests were eventually pursued.Show less
