La politique du dehors avec les raisons du - European University ...

options would suggest otherwise.” 13
How power and national interests are understood and defined are often
cultural constructs. Policy makers face a challenge: “to what myths, stories,
heroic historical elements, contemporary cultural memes, or other elements do
they refer?” 14 A culture that embodies a nation’s historical and normative
pathways may become privileged in the formulation of foreign policy.
Culturally-embedded values encompassing national biases, fears, and
antipathies are regularly projected externally. Let us take one example. In his
study of the Arab community in Canada and that country’s participation in the
U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf war, a Canadian Arabist contended that
race had been involved in judging who was an enemy and who a friend.
“Canadians will never think of America as an enemy, and neither can they
think of British or the French as enemies…. But it is so easy to think of Arabs
as the enemy.” Pointing to Canada’s assertive multicultural, multiracial
mosaic, the author inferred that “Since multiculturalism advocates celebrating
the differences, allowing the traditions and cultures to coexist, the extension of
that policy in foreign policy is a stance of neutrality.” 15
Diaspora lobbies
Especially in multicultural societies, diaspora groups may seek influence
in the making of their adopted country’s foreign policy. 16 But this does not
apply to all ethnic communities. After 9/11, Arab and Muslim community
leaders in Western countries have had a difficult time exerting influence. There
4