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The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy Kindle Edition
by John J. Mearsheimer (Author), Stephen M Walt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (914)
Does America’s pro-Israel lobby wield inappropriate control over US foreign policy?
This book has created a storm of controversy by bringing out into the open America’s relationship with the Israel lobby: a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape foreign policy in a way that is profoundly damaging both to the United States and Israel itself.
Israel is an important, valued American ally, yet Mearsheimer and Walt show that, by encouraging unconditional US financial and diplomatic support for Israel and promoting the use of its power to remake the Middle East, the lobby has jeopardized America’s and Israel’s long-term security and put other countries – including Britain – at risk.
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Review
Controversial. Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR
It could not be more timely. David Bromwich, The Huffington Post
The strategic questions they raise now, particularly about Israel s privileged relationship with the United States, are worth debating. David Remnick. The New Yorker
Ruthlessly realistic. William Grimes, The New York Times
The argument they present is towering and clear and about time. Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss.com
Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, and Walt, on the faculty at Harvard, set off a political firestorm. Jay Solomon, The Wall Street Journal.com
Promises controversy on a scale not seen since Samuel Huntington s Clash of Civilizations sought to reframe a new world order. Stefan Halper, National Interest.com
Deals with Middle East policymaking at a time when America s problems in that region surpass our problems anywhere else . . . People are definitely arguing about it. It s also the kind of book you do not have to agree with on every count (I certainly don t) to benefit from reading. MJ Rosenberg, Israel Policy Forum Newsletter--David Kirk
"Controversial." --Terry Gross, "Fresh Air," NPR "It could not be more timely." --David Bromwich, "The Huffington Post" "The strategic questions they raise now, particularly about Israel's privileged relationship with the United States, are worth debating." --David Remick "The New Yorker" mnick. "Ruthlessly realistic." --William Grimes, "The New York Times" "The argument they present is towering and clear and about time.""" --Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss.com "Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, and Walt, on the faculty at Harvard, set off a political firestorm." --Jay Solomon, "The Wall Street Journal.com" "Promises controversy on a scale not seen since Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" sought to reframe a new world order." --Stefan Halper, National Interest.com "Deals with Middle East policymaking at a time when America's problems in that region surpass our problems anywhere else . . . People are definitely arguing about it. --David Remick
Does America's pro-Israel lobby wield inappropriate control over US foreign policy? This book has created a storm of controversy by bringing out into the open America's relationship with the Israel lobby: a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape foreign policy in a way that is profoundly damaging both to the United States and Israel itself. Israel is an important, valued American ally, yet Mearsheimer and Walt show that, by encouraging unconditional US financial and diplomatic support for Israel and promoting the use of its power to remake the Middle East, the lobby has jeopardized America's and Israel's long-term security and put other countries - including Britain - at risk. --Amazon U K
About the Author
John J. Mearsheimer is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt is Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Product details
ASIN : B002RI9VWQ
Publisher : Penguin; 1st edition (26 June 2008)
Language : English
File size : 3.9 MB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 488 pages
Best Sellers Rank: 125,636 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)3 in Political Lobbying
24 in United States Politics
24 in Political Advocacy
Customer Reviews:
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (914)
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John J. Mearsheimer
John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He graduated from West Point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then started graduate school in political science at Cornell University in 1975. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. He spent the 1979-1980 academic year as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs from 1980 to 1982. During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was the Whitney H. Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Professor Mearsheimer has written extensively about security issues and international politics more generally. He has published six books: Conventional Deterrence (1983), which won the Edgar S. Furniss, Jr., Book Award; Liddell Hart and the Weight of History (1988); The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001, 2014), which won the Joseph Lepgold Book Prize and has been translated into eight different languages; The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (with Stephen M. Walt, 2007), which made the New York Times best seller list and has been translated into twenty-four different languages; Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics (2011), which has been translated into twelve different languages; and The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (2018).
He has also written many articles that have appeared in academic journals like International Security, and popular magazines like Foreign Affairs and the London Review of Books. Furthermore he has written a number of op-ed pieces for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times dealing with topics like Bosnia, nuclear proliferation, American policy towards India, the failure of Arab-Israeli peace efforts, the folly of invading Iraq, and the causes of the Ukrainian crisis.
Finally, Professor Mearsheimer has won a number of teaching awards. He received the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching when he was a graduate student at Cornell in 1977, and he won the Quantrell Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Chicago in 1985. In addition, he was selected as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for the 1993-1994 academic year. In that capacity, he gave a series of talks at eight colleges and universities. In 2003, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Detroit
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good backgroundReviewed in Australia on 11 April 2024
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Important book to decipher spin
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Mahnoor
5.0 out of 5 stars informative readReviewed in Australia on 17 December 2023
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very well written and informative
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Stan
4.0 out of 5 stars we have been brainwashed, the most evil actors in our time is in controlReviewed in Australia on 21 April 2024
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just read it - it will open your eyes
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5.0 out of 5 stars Australians need to read this.Reviewed in Australia on 8 October 2016
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If you are one of the many Australians troubled by your country's constant defiance of international law by voting with the US and Israel in the UN, and tired of having our defense forces dog whistled in to yet another US war, and find the word "ANZUS" as an excuse and reason to be no excuse or reason at all, you need to read this book.
You might also appreciate "Dangerous Allies" by the late former conservative Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser which argues ANZUS is a very dangerous liability to Australia. If you think he's exaggerating remember the Bali bombings.
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CKR
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent.Reviewed in Australia on 20 August 2020
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Reveals the truth.
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Pazic
5.0 out of 5 stars Must readReviewed in Australia on 31 October 2024
Great for understanding U.S's policy in the middle east post-Israeli idependance.
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Samuel Terry
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in Australia on 17 August 2014
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So much that we already knew, or guessed, is covered in this gripping account..
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Alexander Sokol
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, relevant, not always completely convincingReviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2012
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The central argument of the book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by J. J. Mearsheimer and S. M. Walt is that there exists a powerful pro-Israel political lobby in the United States, and that this lobby influences foreign policy in a manner detrimental to the United States, and occasionally also in a manner detrimental to Israel. Arguing this, the book also touches upon many aspects of the United States and Israeli politics and history in general, and so becomes in fact a rather complex and far-reaching work. The value of the book, therefore, rests not only on its ability to argue its central thesis, but also on the more general information it provides on United States and Israel.
The book is split into two parts. The first part outlines the strong political and financial support which Israel receives from the United States, argues that the rationale for the support can be based neither on national security interests nor on moral grounds, and proposes instead that the "Israel lobby" - a catch-all term for pro-Israel political groups in the United States - is the main reason for the United States support for Israel. In the second part, examples are given of political affairs - the Iraq war, the second Lebanon war and affairs with Syria and Iran - where the authors argue that United States policy has been irrationally favoring Israeli interests in contrast to national interests, and concludes that the Israel lobby has an important part to play in this.
Israel and its relationships with its neighbors is a touchy subject, but the authors take great care to clarify their opinions, to nuance their criticisms, and in particular often and explicitly distance themselves from any anti-semitic lines of thought. In general, while I have not checked many of their sources, the book appears well-researched, and the arguments of the authors are for the most part clearly stated and well thought-out.
Personally, however, I did not find the main arguments for the power of the Israel lobby entirely convincing. The general modus operandi employed throughout the book is the following:
1. Consider an example of United States Middle East policy in support of Israel.
2. Argue that the policy has been detrimental to United States national interests.
3. Argue that the policy is not justifiable on moral grounds.
4. Give examples that the Israel lobby influenced the policy.
5. Conclude that the Israel lobby yields considerable influence.
This method of argument is largely sound, but it is also necessary to realize both that the final conclusion must be qualified as a matter of degree and that there may be other explanations for the United States policy not considered (other lobbies, for example). I found that the authors argued well that the Israel lobby is powerful, and more powerful than most other lobbies. The authors clearly state that they do not believe that the lobby "controls foreign policy" or anything conspiratorical to that effect, nonetheless I did not find myself entirely convinced that the Israel lobby is quite as powerful as they seem to make it out to be.
What I by far found most interesting about the book, however, is that during the development of its arguments, many details of United States and Israeli policies are investigated from both an economical, political and moral perspective. In these discussions, the subject is not how much influence the Israel lobby has, rather the subject is simply analysis of a historical political event, where questions are raised as to how various policies affected terrorism, regime changes, peace prospects et cetera. I found these analyses very informative and thought-provoking. Furthermore, while the authors most of the time find Israel culpable of some major or minor moral stumble, they in general appear to attempt to judge the cases on a fair basis. Also, in several cases throughout the book, when the conclusion is not clear-cut, they point this out. Nonetheless, it is ultimately the case the authors spend most of their arguments criticising Israel rather than defending it.
In spite of that I found the arguments for the main thesis - the power of the Israeli lobby as claimed in the book - imperfect, I would clearly and warmly recommend it to anyone interested in the relationship between Israel, its neighbors and the United States. Although somewhat academic, it is very readable and very informative on many accounts. The authors give their opinions and arguments on a varied series of historical and current events, and the arguments in general appear well thought-out, impartial and thought-provoking.
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Maici83
5.0 out of 5 stars Mieux comprendre le travail des lobbyistsReviewed in France on 15 December 2024
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Bien écrit,dommage qu'il n'y ait rien de comparable pour Bruxelles
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Chicca
5.0 out of 5 stars tesi laureaReviewed in Italy on 11 June 2024
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la scelta di un libro è sempre personale, utilizzato per studio
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D. Waterman
5.0 out of 5 stars Good information bad conclusionsReviewed in Germany on 20 May 2018
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While this book makes every effort to play an even hand and provide neutral commentary the authors commit a cardinal Sin in my view by attempting to exonnerate the Israel lobby of the crime of conspiracy. In their attempt to clarify the difference between conspiracy and lobbying they in fact incriminate the lobby by ignoring the fact that conspiracy does not per se have to be secretive.
When the lobby puts its full force behind the invasion of Iraq, it misleads the general public concerning its aims to reprganise the middle east as part of a neoliberal empire building exercise, claiming rather that the removal of Saddam Hussein is necessary because of the threat of WMDs. Although this lobbying occurs in the open, the misleading and lying to the public it entails involves a considerable amount of coordination and activity beyond the view of the public. In addition one cannot simply ignore the extent of influence exercised outside public control by organisations like AIPAC. Those who claim the invasion of Iraq and many other interferences all over the world are evidence of conspiracy are therefore very much correct, even if they are not well informed of the precise mechanisms by which policy is determined.
In addition the authors commit another naive error by referring to lobbying as a legitimate activity within democracies, and ignoring the many insidious ways that such activity actually undermines public control. In my view they do this to avoid accusations of antisemitism that might otherwise be leveled at them for accusingbthe lobby of questionable if not illegal activity, but the point is tgat lobbying corrupts democratic decisionmaking in ways that are profoundly unethical, and therefore highly problematic.
A further cardinal error, in my view, is the authors failure to discuss neoliberalism as the main driving force behind US and Israeli policy. While correctly identifying neocons within the Israel lobby, and the joint US Israeli neocon scheme to literally redraw the geopolitical map of the mideast, the authors fail to explore the wider motive for this, this making it seem as if the Iraq, Syria and Iran regime change plans are entirely motivated by Israeli paranoia rather than a broader ‘conspiracy’ to disempower popular movements in the region from actualising democratic reform from within. These policies may indeed reflect fear amongst neocons of real democratic movements: create an external enemy, identify a scapegoat, go to war, divide and rule! In other words, this oversight is perhaps the most serious error of the book making the long litany of errors in mid east policy entirely inexplicable and thus depriving readers of the possibility to make up their own minds on whether these policies do in fact ‘amount to a conspiracy’ when considered a ‘hidden agenda’.
This brings us back to the question whether the term conspiracy needs to be updated to reflect the realpolitikal world as it actually manifests itself in this day and age, which is to say that there is every justification for calling political processes that take place outside the view of the people and beyond public control ‘conspiracy’ regardless whether those involved are deliberately, wittingly, conspiring and collaborating toward any specific goal.
The problem is that this leaves readers with precious little understanding of how US policy on the middle east fits with other interests and policies that have an equally important role at home. These are the issues from racism to corruption pollution and wages, healthcare etc. all of which determine voting pattherns and political consciousness and willingness to act.
These problems are evident in the authors call in the final conclusions where they suggest the US can still legitimately play a role as nuclear watchdog in the ME! No it cannot! US policy in the region as elsewhere has lost all credibility precisely because it is entirely untethered from any democratic process at home. The US needs to remove all traces of its interference anywhere outside its own borders and fix its democracy problems at home! That might make it a credible partner for peace.
All of which is thoroughly depressing. The authors reading suggests in fact that politics is entirely something that takes place outside the scope of publi control. But as Zygmunt Bauman argues real power ultimately rests with the people. It is ordinary people who foot the bill for US donations of money to Israel, who give their lives for the false hope and lie of democracy, and who lose the opportunity to have good schools and hospitals because the country’s respurces are being diverted.
The authors recommendations are predictably useless: treat Israel as any other state’ may be good advice but it does not account for tge way in which US policy foreign and domestic is actually made. It ignores tge very real gap between people and power and within public consciousness, themselves the consequences of centuries of injustice and imposed ignorance. Although the authors hold that policy is ultimately a democratic product this by no means explains the extent of polarisation in public debate and policymaking that deprives us of real choice at the polling booth.
US foreign policy is in other words a consequence of the lack of real democracy at home, a fact tge authors seem to ignore entirely. Thus when they argue that the lobby’s influence on policy has not made Israel safer they fail to recognise that Israeli leaders ppwer to pursue policies tgat are not in their own best interests represents another discrepancy between the interests of those in power and the common people.
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Suzanne Natafji
5.0 out of 5 stars The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy: A Review about the Survival of the Fittest and Standing the Test of TimeReviewed in the United States on 1 October 2017
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Once upon a time, there were 2 American entities that came together to specifically create a new, third entity called IL by the process of discourse. These two creator entities are named MW (MearsheimerWalt), and their offspring was born abroad in the UK – specifically at the London (Times) Review of Books in 2006.
Quickly, this new IL offspring gathered strength through the gentle nurturing from its parent organism MW, who carefully and methodically rebutted invader organisms from killing off their newly-born entity.
In fact, as more invaders attacked the newly-born IL offspring, creator-entity MW sprang into parenting mode, to help IL become even larger, healthier, and more robust through more highly-refined written and oral discourse.
As a result, MW had to endure the crucible of more IL refinement and continued defense against the invaders, to enhance IL’s further growth and robust qualities. One year later in 2007, the IL entity became even bigger, healthier, and more robust; and so to celebrate this new phase, it had a name change and an even newer re-birth place for this tempered form of the entity: it grew from its first physical form of 32 pages (including rebuttals) born in London to its current form of an astonishing 496 pages by means of a new but international midwife, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, at its New York office. IL has become so famous that it landed on the coveted #1 Best Seller list position in the New York Times. This position affirms IL’s veracity. IL’s full name now is: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
This comparison (using genetics [with a little alchemy sprinkled in], ancient world history, and Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ to create a new entity) is exactly what happened to Professor John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Professor Steven Walt (Harvard University) in their odyssey of creating a book that no one would dare write before because of the affects of foreign-country interest groups in the US from the Israel Lobby, AIPAC. There is a related group that has also had its tentacles on US campus ME Studies departments from the early 2000s, trying to know what professors were teaching their students and trying to politically either back up or remove those professors whose ideas went against theirs. There has been no public, nonacademic discourse and correction to this activity because universities rely on funding, and money speaks volumes (over discourse). This public free-speech activity (all sides of it) needs to be discussed, especially according to how each comment relates all of our country’s established frameworks/ documents of power (including the Constitution). This affords all participants with a very lively and rich discourse experience in which all participants will learn much from each other. Some of the most educated and important people in the US have views on this topic and ALL of them are worth reading and listening to via all formats (books, articles, journals, videos, podcasts, etc.) All of these people’s views combined with those from Mearsheimer and Walt in this book are part of an important knowledge base that needs to be tapped, understood, and added to in later Mearsheimer-Walt book editions. In short, because there has been much change in this country since this book was first published in 2007, the book has stood the test of time, and these changes need to be included in a revised, later edition.
Mearsheimer and Walt’s book: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is now recommended classroom reading in most poli sci, government studies, ME studies, diplomacy and diplomatic studies preparation programs in institutions of higher education, both in the US and those abroad. Why? Because it is the first book of its kind to look carefully at one foreign country (Israel) and how it affects the behavior and actions of another (the US/ US taxpayers, the group that subsidizes the foreign country) in terms of policy and aid. It also affects who is elected to US Congress and who stays elected.
As with most topics, this book generates needed discourse about countries (those with money and those without it that need it as aid from another, wealthier country), policies, lobby groups, money/ funding, aid, political parties and issues, diplomacy, and how all of these influence and intermingle, to create a larger world-system of which both the US and Israel are a part.
Mearsheimer and Walt have created this book to shed light on a topic that was ready to be illuminated. Once this book was published, like its UK germination stage phase, it (and the authors) went through the second crucible tempering in which the authors had to defend their ideas on US soil, successfully defending them against opposite forces.
This book has passed muster again through this process. Simultaneously, there were videos made of university and diplomacy ‘Round Tables’ with Q/A sessions at the end that are found online for the general public as well as academia. In these, the authors successfully defended their theses, resulting in a further strengthening of their ideas. Also, the comments of all people whose opinions were directed at the two became known, with some of the public agreeing and some disagreeing. Through this process, participants could learn more things about what they believe in, why, and some will even re-edit/ amend their own initial ideas.
Unfortunately, a culling of professional-academic personnel has occurred since the early 2000s, in which some professors and writers have been professionally ousted from their positions in academia and related areas (writing) for their stances against this foreign lobby group. This, alone, warrants the reading of this book and its future revised, edition.
Because this book is so interesting, I have bought extra copies to give to friends to read and later discuss. Afterwards, we form groups and engage in critical thinking and dialog to further hone our knowledge about this topic. Included in this activity is that we all watch designated on-line videos, listen to podcasts, read articles and journals, etc., to enhance what we learn from reading this book.
I thoroughly recommend this groundbreaking book for anyone who has an interest in our country and how it relates to foreign countries.
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