An academic analysis of the causes of US imperialist foreign policy

[jihadi]

May the peace, the mercy, and the blessings of Allah be upon you.

The following is an excerpt from an article by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html), London review of Books, Vol. 28 No. 6, 23 March 2006

For the past several decades, and especially since the Six-Day War in 1967, the centrepiece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread ‘democracy’ throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardised not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation has no equal in American political history. Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state? One might assume that the bond between the two countries was based on shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives, but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the US provides.

Instead, the thrust of US policy in the region derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the activities of the ‘Israel Lobby’. Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country – in this case, Israel – are essentially identical.

Discuss.

[nrejones]

The US will always have a strong relationship with Israel. It was instrumental to its creation and the first to recognise it as a nation in 46. The US offers economic aid to Israel and not much more ( moral? support maybe). However the Arab states want israel destroyed and the US opposes this.

If any Arab states try to destroy Israel then I think they might be in for a breathtakingly severe military response from both Israel and the US.

[IamSpartacus]

I still feel in the West that after some 60 years, we are still too close to WW2 to see events objectively for that period. The establishment of the state of Israel resulted primarily from a guilt that the West (and the Catholic church) for turning a blind eye to the Jews (and many other ethic groups) being really fucked over during WW2. What with all of the radio intercepts, photo recces, human intel and other information sources .... the world was caught by surprise when the concentration camps were liberated at the end of the war; pull the other one.

Back on the 'guilt' thang, coupled with lobby pressure on the US government, the Jewish homeland was engineered at an international level.

I still hold my position on an alternate thread .... help resolve the issues in Palestine & Israel by re-locating the whole of Israel to (say) Texas, Oregon or Western Australia ... the North Western bit is a bit sparse. This solution would then allow the full borders and soverignty of Palestine to be re-established.

[kleph]

how is an essay in a newspaper now considered an "academic" analysis? no matter how many fancy words these boys used, there was no peer review for this piece. more likely, it simply says something you like - note the prominent placement of the perjorative "imperialist" - and so you want it to seem more important than it actually is. which is an opinion piece.

[Nodbugger]

Imperialist? What was the last piece of land we kept? Hawaii?

[jihadi]

how is an essay in a newspaper now considered an "academic" analysis? no matter how many fancy words these boys used, there was no peer review for this piece. more likely, it simply says something you like - note the prominent placement of the perjorative "imperialist" - and so you want it to seem more important than it actually is. which is an opinion piece.

At the bottom of the article it states

Footnotes
An unedited version of this article is available at http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011, or at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=891198.

If out of journalistic courtesy to discover the facts before casting judgement you had followed one of those links you would have found out that the source document for this "newspaper piece" was a Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government working paper. Though this is not a peer reviewed publication it is a university working paper authored by a two american professors of political science and international affairs.

Perhaps you are the one who has let his prejudice mask the facts.

[Scythe]

a) This article is already the focus of a fairly long thread, so please do a search before you post something.

b) This has nothing to do with "imperialism", from the US or anyone else. It is about the effects of supporters of Israel in terms of US foreign policy, not about the merits or otherwise of extending US influence.

[kleph]

At the bottom of the article it states



If out of journalistic courtesy to discover the facts before casting judgement you had followed one of those links you would have found out that the source document for this "newspaper piece" was a Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government working paper. Though this is not a peer reviewed publication it is a university working paper authored by a two american professors of political science and international affairs.

Perhaps you are the one who has let his prejudice mask the facts.

perhaps you can take two steps back and jump up my ass, you fucking alt.

[DOGG]

a) This article is already the focus of a fairly long thread, so please do a search before you post something.
Indeed

http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?t=49390

[AhhDiddums]

Imperialist? What was the last piece of land we kept? Hawaii?

Imperialism doesn't neccissarily mean that one nation decides to take over and keep land. It means that a nation, in the interests of the ruling economic power (which is sometimes solely the government, sometimes not), invade and exploit a land for any and/or all resources that the ruling interests "need."