Search

Realists believe that power is central in international relations. A state’s survivability needs power capability to combat against any likelihood of aggression. The power of a state is a combination of hard and soft power, which is considered as smart power. States with major power adopt foreign aid strategy as an aspect of instrument of foreign policy to persuade and attract other states to achieve what it intends from that state. War and cohesion have become unpopular nowadays; democracy has widely taken ground and embraced by several nations, especially after the end of the Cold War. The United States’ power requires smart method through persuading and entertaining cooperation regardless of its undisputed global strength. Some Muslim countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan have benefited from US aid and assistance; in return the United States found its foreign objectives through. The paper investigates the strategies of the United States in its future aid to these countries, after the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as a new capital for Israel, which resulted in the subsequent United Nations General Assembly voting results. The research is descriptive and analytical in nature. The findings show that United States will remain the principal donor to several Muslim countries at least for now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores Iran and Saudi Arabia, long time adversaries socially, politically, militarily and religiously. The author traces this competition back to two events in 1979: the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Other topics discussed include how the Iranian revolution transformed the country into a theocracy, Islamic extremism and Shiite and Sunni Islam.

Copyright of Journal of Social Affairs is the property of Journal of Social Affairs and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Islamiyat al Ma'rifah is the property of International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Adab Al-Kufa is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since 9/11, the American policy towards Africa has been strongly influenced by national security interests and in particular by the fight against international terrorism and Islamic radicalisation. Traditionally, the American Africa policy has been the result of bureaucratic policymaking with the Pentagon and the State Department playing prominent roles. The paper argues that in the current century, evangelical Christian lobby groups have gained increasing influence on policymaking on Africa. Because policymaking has been influenced by a number of different actors, the American Africa policy may appear incoherent and ambiguous if judged narrowly on the expectation that it only aims to take care of US national security concerns and economic self-interests. The paper concludes that Africa was important to the United States during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama because of the combination of strong security interests and strong domestic lobby groups that have pressured to place Africa on the US foreign policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper looks at the ways in which culturalist discourses have influenced our understanding and representation of the rise of the so-called Islamic State. It argues that, in keeping with older narratives on the motives of ‘bad’ Muslims, its political and economic objectives have been overlooked and/or downplayed. Instead, I propose, there has been a strategically efficacious focus on its appeal to Islam, on its sectarian rhetoric and on its use of violence. By continuing to emphasise the ethical over the political in these ways, the culturalism that underpins the dominant representation of the Islamic State’s emergence has, I conclude, served three key purposes – the mobilisation of the ‘good’ Muslim, the exculpation of Western foreign policy and the legitimisation of force. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aims to shift the focus of scholarship on ideas and foreign policy from its overwhelming concern with domestic structures and institutional setup toward a greater awareness of the importance of changing national identity conceptions. I argue that Turkey's foreign policy toward the post-Soviet Turkic Eurasia has been influenced by an ideational factor--the idea of the "Turkic World." Advocated by non-state actors, "Turkic World" was rapidly internalized by a wide range of political actors in Turkey in the 1990s. Despite the eventual fading of the geopolitical importance of the region for Turkey and the rise to power of a political party with Islamist roots, the idea has gained a "taken for granted" status in Turkey's foreign policy interests and practices. I argue that idea entrepreneurs can influence foreign policy when two conditions are met: first, when a critical juncture prompts decision makers to search for a new foreign policy framework and second, when the evolving national identity conceptions of the ruling elite overlap with the general premise of the idea entrepreneurs' proposals. In this case, "Turkic World" has not only provided Turkish decision makers with a pragmatic foreign policy course but also spoken to their changing "worldviews." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise and subsequent erosion of friendly relations between Iran and Turkey was a result of their regional ambitions. While Turkey had long seen its secular system as presenting an alternative to Iran's Islamic ideology, the alignment of their regional interests facilitated a rapport between the two states in the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, the Arab Spring proved divisive for this relationship as each state sought to advocate its model of government and secure a leadership role in the Arab world. The war in Syria widened the divide, as Iran's long-standing support for the Bashar al-Assad regime could not be reconciled with Turkey's desire to see President Assad out of office. Using a close reading of Persian and Turkish sources, the authors will analyse the Iran-Turkey divide, focusing specifically on how the Iranians have portrayed it as a clash of civilisations, citing Turkey's so-called 'neo-Ottoman' ambitions as the primary cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali is the property of Edizioni Studium S.r.l and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines how Western foreign policy opinion reacts to the perceived Islamic character of foreign actors. Studies show that the target actor’s dominant religion is a key ingredient in foreign policy opinion: Western audiences react more hostilely to “Muslim” than “Christian” targets. Yet, actors differ not only in which world religion they belong to but also how that religion is politicized by themselves and by others. We argue that Islam can be politicized in three major ways—via Islamic rhetoric, policies, and labels—that shape foreign policy attitudes. To examine our claims, we field a survey experiment in which we attach common Islamic rhetoric (“Allahu Akbar”), policies (“Shari’a law”), and/or labels (“Islamist”) to a foreign actor in the context of the Syrian civil conflict. We find that these cues strongly harm attitudes toward the actor, and the results vary widely by type. Indeed, the Shari’a policy cue does the most damage to attitudes, emotions, and preferences toward the actor. Moreover, the Islamic cues reinforce each other in fueling these fearful reactions and are particularly potent on conservative citizens. These results paint a richer picture of how out-group religious cues influence foreign policy attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the project represented in the articles of this special section of South Asian History and Culture, as well as the articles that will appear in a subsequent issue this year. The editors of this project reconstruct a conversation on surprising resonances in subaltern sources in Pashto and Bengali of early twentieth-century grassroots indigenous traditions of radical Muslim egalitarianism. What should we make of these resonances? Building on Latin American decolonization theory in the wake of Subaltern Studies, we introduce a series of articles that together illustrate what Ramon Grosfoguel calls a ‘pluriverse’ of perspectives on the ethical self: some rooted in the local lifeworlds of Bengal and some in the Afghan borderland; all interlinked through a series of ‘middle actors’. In so doing, we excavate some dense but hidden two-way traffic between subaltern worlds of Muslim piety and devotion on two distant ends of South Asia, and all-India, international or cosmopolitan politics. These together helped constitute a surprising amount of what we know as the South Asian left, from what are usually seen as its geographical, social, and especially intellectual peripheries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Today India and Israel collaborate in defence, trade, strategic, and intelligence and security-related areas and the relationship is likely to become broader and more comprehensive over the long term, encompassing research, development and co-production in the defence sector, water resource management, science and technology, bilateral trade, and the non-defence sector. Based on a broad convergence of security, geopolitical and economic interests, this evolving partnership represents Delhi's shift from hostility towards the Jewish state to a more pragmatic and realistic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite considerable interest in the relationship between Islam and political violence, there is little systematic empirical research that explores the intrastate conflict proneness of Muslim countries, and existing studies provide mixed results. This article examines the causal factors that explain the prevalence of intrastate conflict in Muslim-plurality states and the conditions under which Islam may influence civil war onset. Further, following Ward, Greenhill, and Bakke’s (2010) suggestion, the effects of Islam and other socioeconomic and political factors in actually predicting civil wars are examined by utilizing ROC curves and cross-validation exercises. Utilizing the Uppsala Conflict Data Program’s data for the 1981–2009 period, the findings indicate that Muslim-plurality countries are indeed disproportionately involved in intrastate conflicts, but these countries are also characterized by lower GDP per capita, oil dependency, state repression, autocracy, and youth bulges, all of which correlate strongly with intrastate conflict onset. The significance of Islam disappears when controls for such factors are included in the statistical model. The variable of Islam does not make any significant contribution to either the in-sample or out-of-sample predictive power of models. Among the factors that increase the risk of intrastate conflict, the presence of a youth bulge has the greatest impact in Muslim-plurality countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article looks at the aspects of political Islam or Islamism and why it appears to failed when tried in the modern society. The author argues that political Islam, or the Islamic State, is incompatible with modernity, opposes it aiming to demolish and replaces it in every regard. Topics discussed include the concepts and characteristics of modern international system which political Islam opposes, including concept of the state and democracy, and political forms of governance.

The article looks at the aspects of Islamic extremists movements and their conduct of preying on their people despite drawing strength from them. Topics include the radical views toward Islamist terrorism in the Middle East, the support of large minorities for terrorists, and the passivity of some Muslims communities to support for Islamic-inspired radicalism.

While China's relations with Arab states have been studied by many, Taiwan's relations with them have hardly been investigated. This study takes Saudi Arabia as a case study and examines the development of Taiwanese-Saudi relations in the period between 1949 and 2013, comparing them to Chinese-Saudi relations. The Taiwanese-Saudi formal diplomatic relationship lasted for over four decades until 1990 and was longer than any other Taiwanese-Arab formal relationship. Even after Saudi Arabia's normalization with China, Taiwan has maintained substantial economic, social, and cultural relations with Saudi Arabia on an informal basis, which have shown signs of reinvigoration in recent years. This long Taiwanese-Saudi "honeymoon" was previously seen from the Cold War perspective. Nevertheless, the anti-Communism factor alone is not sufficient for explaining the course of the development of Taiwanese/Chinese-Saudi relations. This article adds three factors to the analysis - (1) Islam; (2) energy; and (3) development - and revisits those two bilateral relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on extensive archival research with newly available Iraqi state and Ba'th Party documents, this article attempts to shed light on the Saddam Husayn regime's relationship with Islamists and Islamism, arguing that it instrumentalized Islam in its foreign policy to an unprecedented extent, but not out of ideological conviction. This article, therefore, clarifies an important issue in the historiography of Saddam's Iraq and suggests that religion can play a concrete role in international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article maps and develops-theoretically and empirically-the field of civilizational analysis in international relations ( IR). In particular, it teases out a more explicit 'civilizational politics' line of research, which builds upon latent and underdeveloped themes in the civilizational turn in IR. 'Civilizational politics' offers an avenue for theoretically inclined, empirically minded scholars to explore how social and political actors have come to understand, change, and construct world politics as if plural civilizations existed and their relations mattered. The article anchors 'civilizational politics' research to a modernist-constructivist approach to IR and structures it around two key steps. The first step is to recover and interpret subjective and intersubjective meanings through participants' discourse. The article proposes an understanding of civilizations as 'imagined communities' narrated by political and intellectual elites: as essentialized or non-essentialized entities; and as clashing/conflicting or dialoguing/engaging with each other. The second step outlines three causal pathways that explain how narrated civilizational imaginaries affect world politics and turn civilizations into social facts: by guiding and structuring social action; by shaping and becoming embedded in formal institutions and patterned practices; and by bestowing recognition and socially empowering actors claiming to speak for civilizations. The empirical import of a 'civilizational politics' line of research is demonstrated through a re-reading of Turan Kayaoğlu's article ' Constructing the Dialogue of Civilizations in World Politics: A Case of Global Islamic Activism.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the life and work of journalist, author, and political commentator Christopher Hitchens. The author offers a critique of Hitchens's political views, presenting a case for the view that Hitchens's turn to the right, particularly his support for U.S. anti-terrorism policies after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., reflects his failure to analyze the historical underpinnings of the political events he wrote and spoke about as well as a conservative strand in his thinking before 2001. Hitchens's statements on topics including Islamic extremism, British imperialism in India, and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez are discussed.

Many of the transactional features that mark Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia are familiarly strategic and economic. But there also exists a qualitative dimension to what draws together these two Islamic states. This article points to how each country has been able to compensate for the other's resource deficits even when national interests diverge their unique spiritual bonding ensures a strong measure of continuity in their relationship. These ties are nonetheless regularly tested by the difficult choices Saudi Arabia's Iran-centric policies can create for Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ankara Review of European Studies (ARES) / Ankara Avrupa Çalışmaları Dergisi (AAÇD) is the property of Ankara University European Union Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the perspectives on international relations of a leading Islamist scholar, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. The discussion of Qaradawi's views is organized around seven themes that feature prominently in his international relations discourse. The paper argues that Qaradawi's views are central to how Islamists conceptualize international relations; and that they intersect with the views of secular Arab nationalists, Third World and Western critics of the prevailing international order, as well as neoclassical and righteous realists. Finally, the paper sheds light on the centrality of the sacred text (the Qur’an) to the international relations discourse of Islamists, such as Qaradawi. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyzes recent Turkish activism in the Balkans from the standpoint of political community. Drawing on but expanding Karl Deutsch's original concept allows us to explore the goals and actions of Turkish policy in the region. Multiple overlapping communities, some embryonic, can be seen to frame Turkish action. These include cultural/ethnic, security, European Union (EU) candidate, EU alternative, business and Islamic communities. Viewing Turkish policies this way offers analytical leverage that highlights the aims and dynamics of Turkish policies as well as possible outcomes of Turkish foreign policy actions in the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper explores not only the psychological effects of 11 September in the political fields, but also connects with the risk of pre-emption in US international affairs. What is important to discuss in this work is the role played by the media in portraying news, and a pejorative image of Islam. This ancient religion is presented as being backward and barbaric in many senses. Beyond having an encompassing understanding of the history of Islam, the media dissuades public opinion the preventive war is the only valid resource. The project of Enlightenment has been gone forever. It was replaced by modernity. As civilization West developed a technophile sentiment of superiority that fulfilled the gap given by secularization. It is hypothesized that 9/11 represents the encounter of two civilizations whose cultural values are at odds. This belief is oriented at creating a demonization of Islam. First and foremost, both religions, Islam and Christianity have coexisted in peace over centuries. Secondly, Arabs even supported Judaism in its attempts to achieve independence from Rome. This begs a striking question, to what groups these stereotypes are conducive? While demonization paves the ways to reduce the sentiment of culprit, preemption give a reason to act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this article is to build a conceptual framework for understanding the role of social media in the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, considering two different disciplinary perspectives: International Relations and Internet Studies. More specifically, it relies on literature on Middle Eastern political systems and on social network sites. It also refers to literature that examines the relationship between (social) media engagement and civic engagement. Building on this foundation, the article analyses the main attempts to evaluate the ‘impact’ of social media on the ‘Arab Spring’ from specific perspectives. Commentators have tended to adopt a dichotomous vision of the topic, either emphasizing the ‘revolutionary’ role of social media or totally minimizing its role; this article defines them as digital evangelists and techno-realists respectively. In order to prove their point of view, both sides focus on the same issues. The study critically analyses the main issues, discussing how they have been interpreted by both digital evangelists and techno-realists. Through a multidisciplinary framework, it proposes a more nuanced picture of the relationship between the social media and the ‘Arab Spring’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the aftermath of 9/11, Islam has been put at the heart of heated debates about the role of religion in foreign policy. In the following year of 2002, the election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to government has brought new questions to the table about how Turkey can respond to the changes in its transforming environment, and whether Turkey would transform its foreign policy. Considering the moderate Islamist background of the AKP government and its pro-active foreign policy toward Muslim countries, there is a need to explore the processes of how Islam has become an appealing ground for constructing an identity-based Turkish foreign policy. To project if (or how) this transformation is likely to last beyond the AKP, one needs to delineate how Islam interacts with geopolitics when crafting Turkish foreign policy. The article explores this interaction within the context of transforming Turkish foreign policy by benefitting from theoretical insights of constructivism and realism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on Arab politics as of October 2012, with a focus on the political history of Egypt and the former Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat, who was in power from 1970 to 1981. Topics include a historical analysis of Arab politics; Egyptian peace efforts under the administration Sadat, who sought U.S. support and ended Egypt's war against Israel in 1979; U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East as radical Islamism increases among political leaders in the region; and the attitudes of Middle Eastern leaders toward Western politics and democracy in 2012.

Hizb ut Tahrir (HT) or the Liberation Party, established in 1952, has continued to challenge the widespread conception that political Islam has so far failed in the contemporary era to provide a systematic philosophical, political and social alternative to global capitalism and the nation state. Yet HT's ideological and political construct has been largely unexplored. Academic discourse on the movement seemed to be moving in the right direction until the events of 9/11, when the focus radically changed and HT was increasingly considered through the lens of international terrorism. This article critically assesses the validity of these more recent perspectives from the standpoint of the pre-9/11 established academic discourse on the movement. It argues that HT remains unique amongst all contemporary movements in its ability to develop Islam as a modern but distinct ideological force, positioning it effectively in the global vanguard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the issue of Israeli national security in the context of the Arab Spring Uprisings that broke out in 2011. It examines Islamist influence and the potential for Islamization in the region. The author considers the regional balance of power and reflects on Israel's relations with Egypt and Jordan. Other topics include the response of the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to the uprisings, threats to Eastern Mediterranean sea lanes, and Israel's abilities to defend itself.

In the final quarter of the twentieth century, a number of signal events effectively placed Islam at the forefront of Western political consciousness and analytical attention. An explosion of academic, journalistic and popular talk about the ‘Islamic threat’ ensued, culminating in a complex set of discourses that help sustain imperial projects in the Arab world today. This essay critically examines the works of important contemporary political thinkers in search of transcending the banal liberal desire to study ‘Others’ in order to expand the terrain of tolerance, and posits instead a necessary and complex reconsideration of ethics and politics as a way to provide models for future studies of political action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In light of recent developments in the Middle East, in particular, the Arab revolts in the first few months of 2011 and the AKP's June 2011 election victory, this article aims to define the changing parameters of Turkey's new “Middle Eastern policy” under the AKP government, which is based on a new civilizational discourse and a differentiated geopolitical approach. It also discusses the basic dynamics and ideological and doctrinal background of Turkey's new Middle Eastern policy in order to understand the opportunities and constraints of its potential “facilitator and conciliator” role in the changing political circumstances of the region following the recent Arab uprisings. Despite the limits of Ankara's new civilizational and geopolitical orientation in both discourse and policy, which have at times undermined Turkey's neutrality on intra-Arab or Iranian–Arab axes and its facilitation role between Israel and its regional adversaries, Turkey's new regional posture for the Middle East represents an awakening rather than an illusion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Turkey and Israel had been strategic partners since the 1990s. Yet, there has been an unprecedented crisis between the two countries particularly since the winter of 2009. This article analyses the stalemate in bilateral relations, and argues that the Justice and Development Party's (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) Islamist foreign policy toward the Middle East and the 2003 Iraqi war ended the sources of strategic partnership between Turkey and Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the late 1990s, Islamic activists have been active in promoting a series of initiatives and institutions known as the ‘dialogue of civilizations’. This agenda was initiated by the former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami and subsequently promoted by faith-based movements such as the Gülen movement, and organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference/Cooperation. The agenda of the dialogue of civilizations has been a response to the discourses of the end of history, the clash of civilizations, and the rejection of the West by Muslim fundamentalists. This article focuses on the emergence and spread of this agenda among Islamic elites, groups, and institutions. It argues that this agenda has become a significant part of contemporary Muslim thought and practice of world politics. Essentially, the dialogue agenda has facilitated institutional change within Islamic international organizations, spurred various Islamic attempts to accommodate other religions theologically, and instigated grassroots Islamic mobilization for interfaith dialogue. All these developments have fixed the dialogue agenda firmly in some Muslim circles and shaped their engagement with world politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the elections of Islamist parties in Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt and "Arab spring," the 2011 protests and revolutions in this area. The author looks at the aftermath of these political changes, such as the poor performance of secular parties in Tunisia and Egypt, the role of political Islam in elected parties, and the role of Salafists, Muslim activists who want a strict use of Islamic law. Also considered is how foreign policies will be effected by Islamist influence.

The article analyzes the role of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) as of Spring 2012. It discusses the role of Muslim majority states as related to the OIC, analyzes the nature of the OIC, and discusses reform efforts waged by the OIC. It discusses the concept of the Ummah in Islam and the definition of the term international society. According to the article, Islamic perception of international relations was built on the premise that Muslims are a separate community known as the Ummah. The article discusses Ummah in the Islamic holy book known as the Qur'an. The article describes the establishment of the OIC and its charter and its views on Palestine, Islamophobia, and terrorism. It also discusses the OIC's view on the so-called Arab Spring uprisings of 2011

The American public came to know Iran through its missionaries who had lived among the Persians. For their part, Iranians grew familiar with Americans through interactions with these missionary pioneers as well. While American Presbyterians quickly established and expanded their institutional presence in the country, it became abundantly clear to them that Muslim converts to Protestantism remained few and far between. Missionary perceptions of Iranian Muslims, however, left an indelible imprint on American public understanding of Iran and its people. The paper argues that religious ideology frequently colored perceptions and influenced policy-making. Even after more than a hundred years of interaction, cultural representations were refracted through religious difference and similarity. Despite the increasingly secular cultures of Iran and America in the early twentieth century, religion remained a salient ideology for the public in both societies-one that has had a profound impact on the nature of US-Iranian relations. Thus, it is important to analyze the origins and impact of this contact beginning in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the policies of Western countries like the U.S. towards Islamic nations in the Middle East. Discussion of the "illiberal moderate" Muslims of the Middle East is included with a focus on their rejection of violence and terrorism, their disapproval of liberal forms of government, and their commitment to both human rights and Shari'a Muslim law. The U.S. foreign policy and approach towards the Middle East, especially in the Libyan conflict of 2011, is discussed. It is suggested that the U.S. should take a nonviolent pluralistic approach to interventions in the Middle East while encouraging democracy and liberalism in the region.

Purpose -- International relations are involved in an undesirable order at the present time. It is emphatically necessary to propound firm principles to regulate the relationships among states and nations, and new laws and regulations are to be enacted at the international level. The purpose of this paper is to enumerate some of the main guide stones for development of Islamic thoughts in the fields of international humanities. Design/methodology/approach -- The authors enumerate the principles of Sufi foundations of international relations in Islam by introducing the theosophical standpoints of Islamic Sufism. Findings -- The paper introduces 95 principles in three categories of public international law, foreign policy, and diplomacy. Research limitations/implications -- As long as the essence of all religions has a unique root which is their spiritual paths and understandings based on their mystical views. To popularize and internationalize this proposition, comparative researches in other religions' Gnosticism will be essential. Practical implications -- Putting several principles forward, on the next phases, they can be used as the basis for many applied debates in the field and may be ended to a new international declaration/law. Social implications -- Delicateness, truthfulness, and righteousness of Islamic Sufism, which is the gist of thoughts of humankind's elites who are divine messengers/guardians during millenaries, may turn the attentions of scholars and researchers to this viewpoint, and consequently a new set of thoughts/doctrines for regulating international relations to be defined and codified. Originality/value -- International relations scholars have not touched the topic from a Sufi point of view. This paper brings this approach to a new challenging arena for those who are engaged in international relations related subjects of laws, politics, institutions, and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the dangers of generalization, binary thinking, and fear in U.S. foreign policy formulation as it relates to the Arab world. The author examines what he views as U.S. foreign policy mistakes in Latin America and Vietnam while attempting to deter aggression by the Soviet Union during the Cold War including alliances with dictators, covert operations, and support for military coups. He discusses what he views as the uncertainty of how the Arab world will be governed following the so-called Arab Spring uprisings in 2011. The author offers suggestions for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East including refusing to stereotype groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, strategically choosing alliances, and hesitating to apply historical analogies to uprisings and reforms.