9/11, terrorism and US foreign policy. (c2008)

Abstract

National security has become a large focus for President Bush and Congress, as well as the international community. Following the tragic events on 9/1112001, the importance of allies and partners became even more important to the United States. While the United States had not looked to act unilaterally in the past, multilateralism became crucial in order to determine how to thwart terrorism in the most effective way (Smith, 2005). In other words, the United States asked for the help of the whole world in order to fight terrorism. There is big difference between the pre- and post-foreign policy of the United States, particularly as it concerns the issue of terrorism. This current study analyzes the history of terrorism and how it has been addressed in the scholarly literature before turning to discuss how the US has addressed it. The thesis then looks at US foreign policy toward two countries in the Middle East: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The study concludes with an analysis of how and why US foreign policy regarding terrorism has shown both continuity and change.