Neoclassical Realism: A Framework for Assessing Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy toward Islamic Awakening

Social uprising in the Middle East and North Africa that started in late 2010 has affected on foreign policy of the states of this region. Also, this development has influenced on Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, as one of the most important actors in the Middle East. The Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy orientation toward the uprising was supporting to collapsing states in Libya and Syria on the one hand, and military intervention in Bahrain and Yemen for maintaining their regimes on the other hand. This orientation on Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy is caused to this question: «how the paradoxical foreign policy of Saudi Arabia toward Islamic Awakening is noticeable?» To answer this question we use Neoclassical Realism theory and examine the role of external and internal factors in shaping Saudi Arabian foreign policy, simultaneously. This article has been conducted using descriptive-analytical method.