Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The emergence of diversity in the foreign policy orientations of the American public and elite opinion-makers during the Cold War led a number of scholars to study the role and influence of beliefs in US foreign policy. In particular, empirical research and theory has explained the evolution of elite attitudes in US foreign policy in terms of dimensions or schools of thought. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and Communist governments in Eastern Europe, scholars have observed considerable growth and expansion in the foreign policy beliefs of US opinion leaders during the 1980s and 1990s. This leads us to put forth the following general question: to what extent has this diversity in the content of beliefs held by US leaders continued following the end of the Cold War? Therefore, the goal of this study is to extend research on the foreign policy beliefs of elite opinion leaders deeper into the Post-Cold War and Post-9/11 political environments. Using a content analysis of national opinion and foreign policy journals between 1992 and 2004, this study reveals that the trend toward even more diverse and dynamic foreign policy orientations held among US elite leaders has continued, as the rise of alternative dimensions are clearly apparent. The findings presented here do not uncover the rise of a foreign policy consensus similar to that which structured the beliefs of US leaders at the height of the Cold War.