Understanding the new middle eastern leaders : an operational code approach
Author(s)
Advisor
Date
2014Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Political Islam and particular Islamist organizations have broadly gained
strength across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the post-Cold War era.
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is viewed as the world‘s largest and most influential
Islamist organization impinging upon the wider landscape of contemporary MENA
politics. The psychological approach contends that the characteristics of leaders making
foreign policy are crucial to understanding ultimate foreign policy outcomes (Hudson
2005). In this literature, the study of leaders‘ beliefs is one the most progressive
approaches to world politics which focuses on leaders‘ belief systems and their impacts
on foreign policy-making (Leites 1951; George 1969). By utilizing the operational code
analysis, this research aims to unravel the general patterns of Islamist foreign policy
iv
manifested itself in three MB-affiliated MENA leaders‘ foreign policy behaviors in the
post-Arab uprisings era: Egypt‘s Morsi, Tunisia‘s Ghannouchi, and Hamas‘ Meshaal.
Two main hypotheses are posited in this thesis. First, the foreign policy beliefs of three
MB-affiliated MENA leaders are not significantly different from the world leaders‘
included in the ‗norming group.‘ Secondly, it is hypothesized that foreign policy
behaviors of three Islamist leaders designate uniformity pattern even though these
leaders operate in quite different political and cultural settings. The analysis results
yield that operational codes of three MB leaders are analogous to the average world
leader‘s since there are only a few statistically significant differences. The findings also
support the argument that despite operating in different political systems, all three MBIslamists
exhibit similar foreign policy behaviors towards the ‗other‘ in a strategic
environment.
Keywords
Operational Code AnalysisIslamist Foreign Policy
Muslim Brotherhood
Foreign Policy Analysis
Political Leadership