ABSTRACT
Not too long ago the well-known Harvard University international relations scholar Stephen Walt wrote the following on the popular website foreignpolicy.com: “Every time the U.S. touches the Middle East, it makes things worse. It’s time to walk away and not look back.”1 Indeed, the balance sheet of US engagement in the Middle East does not look good. Walt argues that our foreign policymaking elite are one reason the US continues to put itself in trouble in the Middle East (and elsewhere). Too many members of this elite have a naïve belief in some liberal international relations theories. The word “liberal” in the preceding sentence is not to be confused with the conventional way in which it is used – an ideology associated with political Democrats. Instead, it refers to a particular strand of international relations theories and the policy prescriptions following from these theories, which have at times been supported by Republicans and Democrats alike.
