Abstract:
This dissertation is a study of U.S. foreign policy in the context of international
relations in the post-Cold War era, an era in which the U.S. assumed the role of the world
hegemon. It deals with the issue of U.S. ‘humanitarian’ military interventions in Africa and
the Middle East. To this end, U.S. interventions in both Somalia (1992) and Iraq (2003),
incarnating Africa and the Middle East respectively, have been chosen as cases in point. More
specifically, the study examines the extent to which a ‘humanitarian’ concern shaped U.S.
foreign policy decisions during its military interventions in both countries, as opposed to
calculations of national interests.
