US foreign policy in the Middle East and 11 September 2001

Understanding how a foreign policy is formulated involves knowledge of the history of the state being studied and also the various events that drive the actions of international actors. A state's external actions can be explained through offensive realism which explains that since there is no supranational organisation to regulate these actions the key to survival is power. The aim of this work was to identify the changes in US foreign policy towards the Middle East especially Afghanistan and Iraq from the start of the Cold War until the first decade after the attacks of 11 September 2001. US interests in the Middle East have existed since the Cold War representing the country's greatest efforts to contain the advance of the Soviet Union. The US political strategy for the region is a vital question of maintaining a political and economic status quo that allows oil to be exploited and commercialised at affordable prices. The 2001 attacks changed the focus of US foreign policy towards the Middle East and culminated in wars and political crises.