Do any foreign policy models (the bureaucratic politics model, Essay

Do any foreign policy models (the bureaucratic politics model, groupthinking, etc.) help to explain American failure in Vietnam - Essay Example According to the research findings before oil was discovered in Middle East, this region had become a major target for a myriad of religious conflicts and wars, which were fought over the rich resources found there and the amount of land. When the Ottoman Empire faced a downfall, it provided a path for the European colonial and imperial powers to take matters in their own vested interests and gain access to various parts of Asia, which gradually also enabled them to secure these regions in their own favor. The biggest asset of Middle East is the amount of oil that is concentrated in the region, which has simultaneously also emerged as one of the biggest problems. Therefore the Western population is highly accustomed to the propaganda of the Middle Eastern regions, and this has also brought Islam in the middle. It was especially prominent during the European colonial times, which was also exacerbated by Edward Said in his famous book, â€Å"Orientalism†. The way it has been neg atively stereotyped has provided tremendous justification for involvement and also in ensuring a certain level of stability for the interests of powers that are present in the region. Another issue, which is also pivotal to Middle East, is racism and cultural stereotyping that has become very concentrated. There are certain war films that depict an Islamic or Arab group as bad, which clearly show the current conflicts etc. A bad guy is very often an Arab from one of the rogue states and because of the 9/11 attacks perpetrated against the United States and also the War on Terror; it’s very likely that this description will continue. Another huge problem is that to maintain their dominance and supremacy in the Middle Eastern, the West has also put a lot of power, money and influence in the hands of corrupt Arab leaders, and consequently collaborated in the overthrow of those people who were seen as a threat to their interests. Furthermore, it has contributed a great deal in kee ping the populations at bay, for the wealth, power and militarization of the elite class. It is also said to be done for combating the phenomena of communism. The major underlying factor has however been the effort to secure access to imperative resources such as oil (Bard, 1). Middle East is one of the most militarized regions in the world, and there are a lot of arms present. Majority of the people who have been oppressed see the influence of the United States in their region as the biggest cause of all the problems, which has also led to a rise in several acts of terrorism, Islamic militancy and anti-west sentiments. Although, there have been several declarations by the United States department that most of the American interests are vested in supporting the foundation of governments based on a democratic edifice, there have been some instances when the U.S has supported the suppressed regimes in the Middle East. When the U.S were having a Cold War with the Soviet Union, there we re a few policymakers who saw a very stable ally in the Middle East, whether it was tyrannical or not, which would be more preferred rather than an unstable regime that would side with the Soviets. Even when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was a whole lot of financial assistance and U.S dollars that kept flowing in to the regions, which were supposedly known as the centers for the regulation of human rights, or the evident lack of democracy. This also included Saudi Arabia (where a Wahhabi administration puts restrictions on the rights of women), Israel (which doesn’t promote the concept of equal rights for all its citizens), and the Egyptian government where an Egyptian cum American was imprisoned for supporting voter participation. In