Assessing the Role of U.S. Foreign Policy on Global Oil Supply: The Case of Middle East Geopolitical Tensions and Energy Security

Abstract

The present study focuses on analysing the role of the US foreign policy on global oil supply by considering the case of Middle East geopolitical tensions and energy security. Concerning this, it is evident that the United States has played a substantial role in forming geopolitical tensions and global oil supply of Middle East. Reflecting on this, it has been identified that the targeted area, i.e. Middle East is regarded as a major oil producer and exporter, making the nation geopolitically stable and determining factor in the context of global energy security. Therefore, the present study involves significant objectives for obtaining potential outcomes: 1) To assess the historical development of US foreign policy in the Middle East countries, 2) To analyse the impact of US foreign policy on geopolitical tensions and energy security in the Middle East, 3) To explore the effectiveness of US foreign policy initiatives to alleviate the risks associated with global oil supply in the Middle East. Following these objectives, literature has been developed by considering theoretical underpinnings, such as realism, neo-classical realism, liberalism, constructivism, hard power theory and dependency theory. To further obtain significant results, the study considered collecting secondary data from three different case studies of Middle East geopolitical tensions and energy security, which include, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Further, to analyse collected data, thematic analysis technique has been employed in this research by considering five themes of targeted issue. At last, the study includes discussing the topic-at-hand by backing it with significant literature, overall concluding the research and offering future recommendations.