Domestic politics of regional security: theoretical perspectives and Middle East patterns

Abstract

Three general perspectives on national security have dominated the literature. The realist perspective focuses on the effects of the power-related aspects of an anarchic system on the security calculus of states and on the conflict and alliance diplomacy outputs of national security policies. On the regional level, this perspective emphasizes the practices of balancing and counterbalancing as the key aspects of regional and global security management. The liberal perspective emphasizes the impact of domestic structures and processes, including the concern for economic well-being, on the formation of security policies. On the regional level, this perspective emphasizes the formation of security regimes and regional organizations that condition and limit short-term conflict. The revisionist perspective focuses on the regime-preserving function of most security organizations in Third World states. It argues that the pursuit of certain security-related objectives – such as increases in defense expenditures and the design and deployment of armed forces – is guided by domestic considerations. This study examines the relative relevance of the three approaches to the evolution of the Middle East. It argues that the revisionist perspective was the most relevant one in the 1950s and 1960s, the realist perspective was the most relevant one in the 1970s and 1980s, and the liberal approach became increasingly important in the 1990s. Despite the relative decline of the latter approach, it has left traces in the policies of the region that offer some degree of optimism regarding the evolution of regional structures and institutions once the key conflict in the region are resolved.