ARAB-WEST INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: JÜRGEN HABERMAS TO BALANCE FUTURE WESTERN FOREIGN POLICIES TOWARDS THE MENA REGION

Throughout history, many political observers in the Arab-Islamic and Western worlds have held prospects for cooperative and benevolent socio-political and cultural relations between the respective regions. In the fields of Western public diplomacy and foreign policy, there exists a considerable amount of academic research that has been conducted in order to enhance ArabWest inter-governmental and inter-ambassadorial relations. In spite of this, political observers have subsequently become discouraged by the tenuous outcomes of Arab-West international dialogues, especially when reflecting upon the devastating situation currently facing Arab nations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Therefore, it has become pivotal to transition the old-fashioned Western foreign policies into more accommodating policies, predominantly since the approaches of Western international relations theory (IRT) have been designated as Eurocentric, prejudiced and inadequate. In addition, this theory is claimed to be derived from the philosophical foundations of international relations, where the ontological foundations have received little attention. Considering this, the paper proposes that Jürgen Habermas’s critical theory and the theory of communicative action; present rational and urgent notions for Western inter-governmental and inter-ambassadorial relations with Arab nations, provide contemporary ramifications for future Western diplomacy and foreign policies and offer opportunities to inform Western representatives about the vital and constructive Habermasian intuitions in order to guide Western inter-governmental and inter-ambassadorial relations towards the MENA region. The findings exposed blind spots and various biases that invariably sit at the heart of Western foreign policies towards the MENA region, and revealed vigorous elucidations that safeguard Arab-West international relations. Finally, the paper concentrates on applying rational Habermasian epistemologies in order to constructively contribute towards the desired strengthened Arab-West international relations and to bridge the gap of existing apprehensions