A Constructivist Approach to American Foreign Policy

Abstract

This paper explores the role of an epistemic community's influ­ence upon American foreign policy vis-a-vis political ]slam. lt tries to account for American hostility toward Islamic resur­gence by employing the constructivist paradigm. ln this regard, the following observations are highlighted: The epistemic com­munity in question has two rival wings: Accommodationist and Confrontationalist, the resulting foreign policy view is a func ­tion of the dialectic between them; and constructivism coupled with the concept of epistemic communities helps explain the dynamics associated with the role of connoisseur recommenda­tion in formulating American foreign policy toward political lslam.