United States' Foreign Policy Toward The
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ABSTRACT POLITICAL SCIENCE AL SARHAN, ATALLAH B.A. YARMOUK UNIVERSITY, 2005 M.A. AL AL-BAYT UNIVERSITY, 2010 UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN: 1990-2014 Committee Chair: Hashim T. Gibrill, Ph.D. Dissertation dated May 2016 This study provides an analysis of the United States’ foreign policy toward the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1990-2014. This period has witnessed four different American Presidents: the Republicans, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and the Democrats, Bill Clinton and Barack H. Obama. Republicans and Democrats have both maintained relatively close relations with Jordan. This study concluded that the most important factors that shaped the United States’ foreign policy toward Jordan are the geopolitical location, ideology, moderate regime, regional security dimension, and Arab- Israeli peace process. This study explores the signing of The Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty of October 26, 1994, which markedly enhanced US-Jordan bilateral relations to unprecedented levels. The United States’ foreign aid, Qualifying Industrial Zones, and the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement have dramatically boosted the Jordanian economy and modernized its military weapon systems. This study found that the primary concern of the United States’ foreign policy in the Middle East is securing strategic access to oil i in the Gulf region, supporting and protecting Israel’s sovereignty, maintaining the United States’ military bases, particularly in the Gulf states, defending client-states and friendly regimes, and resisting Islamic movements and terrorist groups. ii UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN: 1990-2014 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ATALLAH AL SARHAN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ATLANTA, GEORGIA MAY 2016 © 2016 ATALLAH AL SARHAN All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I praise Allah, who gave me the life, hope, patience, guidance, health, and well- being necessary to complete this work. I wish to express my sincere thanks to my committee chair, Dr. Hashim T. Gibrill, for guiding me through this research. Again, Dr. Gibrill, I am extending a warm thank you for your help, support, and continuous encouragement. I am also extremely thankful to Dr. Robert B. DeJanes for his genuine kindness and advice. I am equally indebted to Dr. Fatemeh Shafiei for her assistance and encouragement during my post-academic life and for being on my committee. I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the entire Political Science Department faculty for their help and support. Finally, I would like to express gratitude to one and all, who directly or indirectly, have lent their hand in this venture. On a personal note, I also thank my parents for their endless encouragement, support, and attention during my academic life in Jordan and the United States. In a special way, I would like to thank my brothers – Nayif, Mohammad, Yousef, and Huda – for their unwavering support during my entire doctoral journey. I also dedicate this dissertation to those members of the Arab Legion, who lost their lives defending the sacred land of Palestine. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................1 Research Questions ............................................................................................4 Hypotheses .........................................................................................................5 Limits of the Study.............................................................................................6 Major Concepts ..................................................................................................6 Research Methods ............................................................................................11 Review of the Literature ..................................................................................14 Significance of the Study .................................................................................27 Organization of the Study ................................................................................28 II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY ........................................................................................ 31 The Concept of Foreign Policy ........................................................................31 The Concept of the United States’ Foreign Policy ..........................................33 The United States’ Foreign Policy before World War II .................................34 The United States’ Foreign Policy after World War II ....................................36 The United States’ Foreign Policy in the post-Cold War Era ..........................45 The United States’ Foreign Policy Instruments ...............................................49 iv CHAPTER 1. Public Diplomacy.................................................................................49 2. Foreign Aid ..........................................................................................52 3. Military Power .....................................................................................61 III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY ........................................................................65 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward the Middle East before WWI .......65 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward the Middle East after WWI ..........68 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward the Middle East after WWII .........70 The United States’ Foreign Policy Interests in the Middle East ......................75 1. Securing Strategic Access to Oil in the Gulf Region ...........................75 2. Supporting and Protecting Israel’s Sovererignty .................................80 3. Maintaining the United States’ Military Bases ....................................85 4. Defending Client-states and Friendly Regimes ...................................91 5. Resisting Islamic Movements and Terrorist Groups ...........................94 IV. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN IN THE UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY ........................................100 Synopsis of the United States and Jordan Relations ......................................100 The Importance of Jordan in the United States’ Foreign Policy ....................104 1. Geopolitical Location.........................................................................104 2. Ideology .............................................................................................109 3. Regime ...............................................................................................114 4. Security ..............................................................................................118 5. Peace Process .....................................................................................128 v CHAPTER V. THE UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN .....................................................134 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward Jordan during the George H. W. Bush Presidency (1989-1993) ................................................135 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward Jordan during the Bill Clinton Presidencey (1993-2001) ...........................................................146 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward Jordan during the George W. Bush Presidency (2001-2009) .....................................................154 The United States’ Foreign Policy toward Jordan during the Barack H. Obama Presidency (2009-2014) ...................................................162 VI. THE UNITED STATES’ FOREIGN AID TO THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN .............................................................................173 The United States’ Foreign Economic Aid to Jordan ....................................174 The United States’ Foreign Military Assistance to Jordan ............................183 The US-Jordan Military Cooperation ............................................................188 The United States, Jordan, and Terrorism .....................................................195 The US-Jordan Trade Agreements.................................................................200 VII. CONCLUSION AND THEORIES ................................................................206 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................222 A. Address to the Nation by His Majesty King Hussein, February 6, 1991 .......222 B. International Contributions to the War against Terrorism, June 7, 2002 .......226 C. The United Nations Security Council Resolutions