ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 presents theoretical lens of the book. In the first part, a cumulative look at role theory scholarship since 1970 is presented. We synthesize various works from role theory literature based on competing hypotheses and empirical findings. A discussion on critical studies that focus on material and ideational sources of national role conceptions follows. Among the ideational sources, one particularly important yet underutilized aspect-religion- is highlighted, given the special importance of faith in the MENA region. A cognitive model of national role conceptualizations is discussed, which concerns itself with how material and ideational sources of national role conceptions are interpreted by the ruling foreign policy elite, is presented next. In this section, Breuning’s (2011) ‘cognitive model of agent-structure relationship’ is incorporated with Warner and Walker’s (2011) theoretical framework on the role of religion in foreign policy.
