The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

✍ Scribed by John J. Mearsheimer, Stephen M. Walt

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 500
• Edition: 1st
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The Israel Lobby,” by John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Originally published in the London Review of Books in March 2006, it provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy.

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Now in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran. They describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. Mearsheimer and Walt provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America’s posture throughout the Middle East—in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America’s national interest nor Israel’s long-term interest. The lobby’s influence also affects America’s relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror.

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Writing in The New York Review of Books, Michael Massing declared, “Not since Foreign Affairs magazine published Samuel Huntington’s ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’ in 1993 has an academic essay detonated with such force.” The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is certain to widen the debate and to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Copyright page......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Introduction......Page 19
The Lobby and U.S. Middle East Policy......Page 22
The Lobby's Modus Operandi......Page 25
Why Is It So Hard to Talk About the Israel Lobby?......Page 27
How We Make Our Case......Page 30
Those We Learned From......Page 34
Conclusion......Page 36
Part I: The United States, Israel, and the Lobby......Page 37
1 The Great Benefactor......Page 39
Economic Aid......Page 40
Military Assistance......Page 47
Diplomatic Protection and Wartime Support......Page 56
Conclusion......Page 64
2 Israel: Strategic Asset or Liability?......Page 65
Helping Contain the Soviet Bear......Page 67
From the Cold War to 9/11......Page 74
"Partners Against Terror": The New Rationale......Page 76
Confronting Rogue States......Page 86
A Dubious Ally......Page 91
Conclusion......Page 93
3 A Dwindling Moral Case......Page 94
Backing the Underdog......Page 97
Aiding A Fellow Democracy......Page 102
Compensation for Past Crimes......Page 108
"Virtuous Israelis" versus "Evil Arabs"......Page 114
Camp David Myths......Page 119
Supporting Israel Is God's Will......Page 123
What Do the American People Want?......Page 124
Conclusion......Page 126
4 What Is the "Israel Lobby"?......Page 127
Defining the Lobby......Page 128
The Role of American Jewry......Page 131
Unity in Diversity and the Norm Against Dissent......Page 136
The Lobby Moves Right......Page 142
The Role of the Neoconservatives......Page 144
The Christian Zionists......Page 148
The Lobby's Sources of Power......Page 156
The (Modest) Impact of Oil......Page 158
The Question of "Dual Loyalty"......Page 162
Conclusion......Page 166
5 Guiding the Policy Process......Page 167
Holding Sway on Capitol Hill......Page 168
The Making of Pro-Israel Presidents......Page 179
Keeping the Administration in Line......Page 181
Conclusion......Page 183
6 Dominating Public Discourse......Page 184
The Media Is the Message......Page 185
Think Tanks That Think One Way......Page 191
Policing Academia......Page 194
Objectionable Tactics......Page 201
The "New Anti-Semitism"......Page 204
The Great Silencer......Page 207
Conclusion......Page 212
Part II: The Lobby in Action......Page 213
Introduction to Part II......Page 215
The Lobby's Agenda......Page 216
The United States and Israel After 9/11......Page 217
7 The Lobby Versus the Palestinians......Page 220
The Lobby Humiliates Bush......Page 224
"The More Things Change..."......Page 227
Unilateralism In, Road Map Out......Page 231
Arafat Dies and Nothing Changes......Page 235
Rice Gets "Powellized"......Page 236
Conclusion......Page 241
8 Iraq and Dreams of Transforming the Middle East......Page 245
Israel and the Iraq War......Page 249
The Lobby and the Iraq War......Page 254
Selling the War to a Skeptical America......Page 259
Fixing the Intelligence on Iraq......Page 266
Was Iraq a War for Oil?......Page 269
Dreams of Regional Transformation......Page 271
The Lobby's Role in Remaking the Middle East......Page 274
Conclusion......Page 275
9 Taking Aim at Syria......Page 279
The Syrian Threat......Page 280
Israel and the Golan Heights......Page 283
Jerusalem and Damascus After September 11......Page 288
The Lobby and Damascus After 9/11......Page 289
Why Did Bush Waver?......Page 292
Conclusion......Page 294
10 Iran in the Crosshairs......Page 296
Confrontation or Conciliation?......Page 299
The Clinton Administration and Dual Containment......Page 302
The Bush Administration and Regime Change......Page 307
Rising to Israel's Defense......Page 311
The Alternatives......Page 314
The Least Bad Option......Page 318
Conclusion......Page 321
11 The Lobby and the Second Lebanon War......Page 322
Prewar Planning......Page 324
"The Mighty Edifice of Support"......Page 326
Strategic Folly......Page 329
Damage to U.S. Interests......Page 332
Breaking the Laws of War......Page 335
The Lobby in Overdrive......Page 342
The American Public and Lebanon......Page 346
Doing America's Bidding?......Page 348
Conclusion......Page 350
Conclusion: What Is to Be Done?......Page 351
What Are U.S. Interests?......Page 353
A Different Strategy: The Case for "Offshore Balancing"......Page 354
A New Relationship: Treat Israel As a Normal State......Page 357
Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict......Page 358
Weakening the Lobby?......Page 365
Fostering More Open Discourse......Page 366
A New Israel Lobby?......Page 368
Final Thoughts......Page 371
Introduction......Page 373
1 The Great Benefactor......Page 377
2 Israel: Strategic Asset or Liability?......Page 386
3 A Dwindling Moral Case......Page 394
4 What Is the "Israel Lobby"?......Page 409
5 Guiding the Policy Process......Page 419
6 Dominating Public Discourse......Page 424
7 The Lobby Versus the Palestinians......Page 433
8 Iraq and Dreams of Transforming the Middle East......Page 442
9 Taking Aim at Syria......Page 454
10 Iran in the Crosshairs......Page 460
11 The Lobby and the Second Lebanon War......Page 468
Conclusion: What Is to Be Done?......Page 477
Acknowledgments......Page 481
A......Page 483
B......Page 484
C......Page 486
E......Page 487
G......Page 488
I......Page 489
J......Page 491
L......Page 492
M......Page 493
N......Page 494
P......Page 495
R......Page 496
S......Page 497
T......Page 498
W......Page 499
Z......Page 500

✦ Subjects

Международные отношения;Международные отношения;Внешняя политика США;