A "democratic realist" foreign policy: U.S. democracy promotion in the Middle East and the case of Egypt

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the vision that governs U.S. democracy promotion policy in the Middle East that has been put into practice after September 11 in the particular case of Egypt. The thesis argues that U.S. democracy promotion policy has been theorized and implemented through a neoconservative ‘democratic realist’ foreign policy approach which aims at consolidating authoritarian cooperative regimes through empowering the already excessively powerful executives while opening a limited space for political opposition. In other words the thesis argues that the neoconservative ‘democratic realist’ frameworks for U.S. foreign policy envision a ‘liberal autocratic’ model in their democracy promotion policies in the Middle East whereby the existing authoritarian allies manage, rather than negate, pluralism through institutional and legal engineering and coercion which aims at consolidating authoritarianisms instead of democratization of the Middle East polities. The thesis investigates the IR theoretical repercussions of this neoconservative ‘democratic realist’ foreign policy approach. It argues that constructivist reading provide us with substantial analytical tools in order to go beyond the orthodox theoretical dichotomy of realism and liberalism to see how neoconservative thinkers create a blend of realist and liberal frameworks in their approach to U.S. democracy promotion in the Middle East. The thesis also analyzes the criticisms of radical/critical IR theories about the nature of democracy that is on the democracy promotion agenda.