This book is a study that explores how American foreign policy is linked to the development of terrorism in the Middle East, mainly using the Palestine-Israel conflict as a case study. It discusses questions that consider how American foreign policy in the Middle East is managed. What values and what political systems produce this policy? Who influences this policy? What is the relationship between the countries in the Middle East, especially Palestine and Israel, to America? This book will specifically focus on how American foreign policy was influenced by American presidents from Woodrow Wilson to George Bush II.

American Foreign Policy & Its' Link To Terrorism In The Middle East

By Khalil T. Azar

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Khalil T. Azar
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2505-0

Contents

I. Introduction.............................................................................1II. Unfolding American Foreign Policy vs. Israel and Palestine..............................8III. American Policymakers from Wilson to George W. Bush Woodrow Wilson.....................11IV. Congress and the Zionist Lobby..........................................................42V. Interventions of American Lawmakers in Conflict..........................................46VI. Religion and its' influence on American foreign policy..................................48VII. A Double Standard Intervention in American Policy......................................68VII. Media Influence on American Foreign Policy.............................................75IX. Oil Influence on American Foreign Policy................................................92IX. Denial of the Past Influences Foreign Policy............................................101X. How the World of Sep. 11th, was Created by Policy........................................124XII. International Law Influence on Foreign Policy..........................................140XIII. Terrorism.............................................................................155XIV. The case of Palestine: Israeli State Terror............................................158XV. American Policy and Terrorism...........................................................163XVI. American Government and "Palestinian Terror"...........................................165XVII. Consequences of American Policy on Palestine/Israel...................................170XVIII. Possible Solution....................................................................175XIX. Conclusion.............................................................................178XIX. Cited Work.............................................................................185

Chapter One

Introduction

This book is a study that explores how American foreign policy is linked to the development of terrorism in the Middle East, mainly using the Palestine-Israel conflict as a case study. It discusses questions that consider how American foreign policy in the Middle East is managed. What values and what political systems produce this policy? Who influences this policy? What is the relationship between the countries in the Middle East, especially Palestine and Israel, to America? This book will specifically focus on how American foreign policy was influenced by American presidents from Woodrow Wilson to George Bush II.

What is the role of the international community in these relations? How have historical decisions of American presidents influenced those foreign policy makers in relation to the Palestinians? Where is American hostility toward Palestinians noteworthy in different arenas? The role of AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) influenced American foreign policy. This study will discuss how the September 11th, 2001, attack on America relates to the causes of terrorism, its definition, its distinct categories, and how foreign policy was developed. It will discuss how state terrorism, individual terrorism, and international law are related to American foreign policy. Was the resistance to oppression, to occupation, and to the concept of terrorism legal? Where does Israel fit in this position and how is America implicated? American war in Iraq is an issue of terrorism and the innocent civilians killed in Palestine and in Iraq, and the causes of terrorism. The root causes of terrorism implicate Zionism in its different forms and plans. This study will bring possible solution for a peace based on UN resolutions with a conclusion that directs the reader to a goal for the citizenry of the concerned.

This book explains American policy's path and goals in the Middle East (M.E.). Eric Watkens asserts that American "policy in the Middle East historically has been driven by two main goals: securing oil for US industry and establishing Israel as a Jewish homeland. Although American policymakers claim to adopt an even-handed approach in dealing with the Arabs and the Israelis, their practice traditionally favors Israel." One could ask therefore why America chose to side with Israel in the Middle East conflict.

The foreign policy of a superpower like America is planned and executed according to what the constitution allows policy makers to do, or not to do. It limits authorized actions with foreign nations by the president to certain areas. The president is the most influential person forming American policy. His policies are produced, by the American political system, and its values.

This American foreign policy choice produced enemies, some of whom turned to terror in response to a biased American foreign policy that supported economically, militarily, and diplomatically the Israeli occupation and its oppressive policies over the Palestinian population. American support for Israel filtered into American culture more broadly and hence has further increased the hostility in the region towards America.

American involvement is based on a value system of looking down on Arabs and Muslims in the region. This view is produced by an accumulated history of both past historical foreign policies and practices. It is also reflected by internal policies through the American cultural system and influenced by its main components such as the media, other institutions, and the value system.

American foreign policy shapes relations with populations in the Arab and Muslim world but it also creates economic, social and political conditions there that may provoke terrorism in that world, whether by state or non-state actors. Recently, the Bush administration has embarked on a dangerous course away from older American foreign policy strategies of deterrence and containment toward preemptive action. This vision is leading policy makers to defy long-standing rules of international conduct and to turn instead to unilateral actions and imperialist policies.

To understand America's role in the Middle East region, one must know the history of America's involvement there; cumulative foreign policies of always siding with Israel, imposing sanctions on Iraq, supporting repressive regimes, and keeping the American's military on Arab land have created deep animosity towards America throughout the region. The argument is that American foreign policy in the region has helped to create the fertile ground for the development of terrorism there and that one cannot develop policies to prevent terrorism there without also radically reshaping America's foreign policy agenda in the region.

Studying terrorism in our time is necessary in order to maintain world peace through a system of international law that is based on the legitimacy of the international community. It is essential that we draw up efficient ways to counter terrorism not just by working to prevent future attacks, but by addressing and remedying the causes of terrorism, through fine-tuning foreign policy strategies that would eliminate some of the precursors of terrorism by ensuring cooperation, justice, and fairness in the distribution of global resources. One of the goals in this study is to propose new directions that American foreign policy could take in the Middle East in order to begin to realize the above transition. This includes harsh critic and the forbidden ones.

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