Identity Ideas and Explaning Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy about Iraq

Abstract

Saudi Arabia's Regional Foreign Policy as an important player in the Middle East and the Arab world is affected by Middle East new changes, especially Iran's presence in Iraq. Most analyses about Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy toward Iraq were formulated based on realistic approaches and less attention paid to the role of normative and identity elements. Taking advantage of the analytic method and constructivism theory of Foreign Policy, the present paper tries to answer this question: what is the role of identity elements in Saudi Arabia's foreign policy toward Iraq? The hypothesis of the paper is: the Saudi Arabia's foreign policy in Iraq can be explained based on its identity elements and material and tangible benefit. Findings of the paper illustrate that Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy in Iraq in local and regional areas, actually composed of identity elements such as Arab identity, Wahhabi Islam, Saudi political system and material elements that has helped in its interventionist approach in order to change current situation and increased instability in Iraq.

Keywords

• saudi arabia
• iraq
• identity ideas
• analyze of foreign policy
• constructivism