On the principle of social science, like trade, following the flag, intellectual currents have reflected the dominant American policy interests of the time. During the Cold War, the subfield of comparative politics was judged by many to be the most intellectually exciting of the political science specializations. With its emphasis upon process and political stability it also reflected and served American Cold War policy interests. Americanized political science in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War has now seized the conceptual high ground. The U. S. Government has reduced its support of foreign area studies and perhaps not coincidentally so have the major private foundations.
Political science is once again an unconscious instrument of American foreign policy.
This political science deludes itself into thinking that it is engaging in the explanation of foreign politics when in fact it is at best engaging in critical analysis. Perhaps its greatest contribution is to the discussion of the issues of equality, human rights and feminism. This attack is in effect a statement of what it does not want to know. Political scientists studying the Middle East, on the other hand, have been resistant to this Americanized political science. Like those who study other complex foreign cultures the sheer intellectual effort and long term effort necessary to learn the languages, cultures and religions of the region they have chosen to study have immunized them.