Armed non-state actors’ foreign policy behavior: a role theoretic approach

Abstract

Armed non-state actors (ANSAs) operate outside of state authority and pursue foreign policy to achieve their objectives in international politics through violent methods. Thus, it is important to understand what shapes ANSAs’ foreign policy behavior. With a role theoretic approach, this thesis explores how these actors perceive their roles in their external relations and conduct foreign policy. Therefore, role theory provides an opportunity to integrate ANSAs in the foreign policy analysis (FPA). As a foreign policy behavior, this thesis focuses on the alliance portfolios of ANSAs. It examines Hezbollah and Hamas’s foreign policy behavior at the initial stages of the Syrian uprising with their engagements in the Axis of Resistance. Accordingly, this thesis applies a content analysis method to identify the foreign policy role conceptions of Hezbollah and Hamas, and examines how these actors locate and perform their foreign policy roles. The findings reveal that these actors have cohesive role conceptions. Depending on the salience of role conceptions, they perform different foreign policy behavior when deciding to show allegiance or leave the alliance. Therefore, this thesis portrays role theory as a significant approach, and salient role conceptions are crucial to understanding ANSAs’ foreign policy behavior.