The Culture Of The U.s. Counter-terrorism Policy,

The focus of International Relations theories dwells on political, economical and military factors for quite a long time. However, with the gradual expansion of globalization throughout the world, soft power (such as culture, regime etc.) has assumed increasing importance to a state. Culture, an important part of soft power, has received much attention in terms of its influence on foreign policy. As a deeply-rooted and relatively stable concept, culture wields its intangible power on the foreign policy of a state. The whole thesis takes the anti-terrorist policy of the United States as an example to analyze its relations with cultural factors. As we all know, the United States became the only super power in the world ever since the Cold War ended. However, the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th gave a heavy blow to the pride and confidence of the Americans. They recognized the urgent need of improving their national security, hence integrated anti-terrorism as one of their national goals. The analyses so far have defined the reason why the United States launches unswervingly the anti-terrorism policy much more from the angle of politics and economy than from the angle of culture as a whole. Therefore, the thesis mainly analyzes the issue from the perspective of cultural factors.These factors are categorized into two parts: cultures inherited from the American history and cultures maintaining significant influence on the George W. Bush Administration. The former consists of American Exceptionalism as well as"sense of mission", and Pragmatism, while the latter includes Religious Conservatism and Neo-conservatism. The body of the thesis will probe respectively into the four concepts from their meaning, influence on the foreign policy of the United States, to their relations with the anti-terrorism policy of the United States. In conclusion, American Exceptionalism,"sense of mission"as well as Pragmatism strike deep roots into the heart of American people and thus become the original drive of the anti-terrorism policy on the one hand, while Religious Conservatism and Neo-conservatism expand and wield their power as well as influence during the period of George W. Bush Administration, contrive for the anti-terrorism policy, and help the government strengthen its conviction of fighting against terrorism on the other hand.