Switching Tracks: Reconciling Realism with Religious Sources of Power.

While analysts agree that the policies of the United States may have a predominant impact on the success or failure of U.S. public diplomacy activities in the Middle East, recent polls indicate that the packaging of the U.S. message can matter as well. Middle Eastern governments have learned to wrap their foreign policies in the religious and cultural contexts of their region; applying similar contexts may significantly advance U.S. outreach efforts there. However, for any such change to be more than momentarily tenable, the realist foundations of U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy first must be reconciled with the very real power of religion in the Middle East. This paper investigates the possibility of reaching an accommodation between realism and religion through the political psychology perspectives provided by Marc Howard Ross' concept of the culture of conflict and its associated narratives. It considers plausible links to several related concepts that have been applied previously in realist research, including perception and misperception, images, analogies, and nationalism. The paper then identifies possible connections between Ross' findings regarding narratives and the culture of conflict and concepts found in balance-of-threat and hegemonic stability theories. Finally, it briefly addresses initial conclusions and proposes additional topics for follow-on research. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]