Janice J. Terry

Scholars of diplomatic history and politics have long debated the question of how U.S. foreign policy is formulated. In US foreign Policy in the Middle East: From Crises to Change, Yakub Halabi argues that after major crises that have threatened U.S. interests new ideas emerge that bring about changes in foreign policy. According to Halabi, “A major crisis stimulates change in thinking; power makes change possible; and ideas make change feasible” (p.133). Taking a post-positivist position, Halabi asserts that ideas shape reality more than self-interest or “other observable variables” (p.17) and sets about to prove his thesis using a historic overview of major crises in the Middle East from 1945 to the contemporary era. The study is based entirely on published material, mostly secondary sources.