Conversations with History

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From the interview between Mearsheimer John and Steve Walt, the audience learns that the issue of the foreign policy in the United States is quite sensitive. The fact that the U.S is a super power and has a higher hand in as far as world politics and affairs are concerned makes its policies to be quite sharp edged. The domestic politics and affiliations of the United States are not just domestic since the world watches and follow them closely to understand their orientation and hence use it to make their own decisions.

One of the areas that stand out from the United States’ policies is that of Israel and their close connection to the government of the US. The main issue from the book that is being discussed is that of the US policy towards Israel. The formation of a lobby group to analyze and look into the issue of the Israeli and Palestine conflict is seen as a hypocritical move by the United States in trying to appease the external countries while not acting in the interest of the local Americans.

The author is categorical in his argument that the United States government is one that is surrounded by influences that go beyond the common good of the American people. The policies that have been set by the country are sometimes considered to contradict with the social justice systems, and the interest of some groups of people is given a higher priority to others. The fact that the legislators are uncharacteristically slow in commenting to the issue of Israeli lobby group shows that there are more issues than those that just meet the eye of the ordinary citizens.

From the interview, one notes that the author has made some assumptions that cannot be ignored. The main one is the fact that it seems that the United States has some vested interest in the Middle East affairs and that there could be more information that the one that is currently available concerning the involvement of America in the Middle East. Another major assumption that comes out is that the issue of terrorism. The government seems to believe that the main enemies to America are from the Middle Eastern parts of the world. However, this could not be true since the country could be facing threats from other nations that disguise themselves and make the issue to seem as if it is only oriented towards the Middle East.

The author provides some evidence by discussing about other policies that seem to show that America is certainly not as democratic as it is thought to be. The introduction of the issue of American Lobby group, the American- Armenian lobby and also the Indian American group that all seem to rotate around the foreign policy of the United States. He also illustrates points out to the involvement of the United States in the Israel/ Palestine war and conflict as a way of showing some vested interest in Israel while fighting off its opponents. The United States is seen as imposing onto the affairs of the other countries and the role of a god father is certainly misplaced in the context of solving some disputes which can be solved internally in governments.

From the arguments made by the author, some strengths and weaknesses can be noticed. The main strength is that the author works from the dimensions of the ordinary citizen. He articulates issues and gives evidence that can help one to realize that the book is not merely based on assumptions. The in-depth analysis of issues while giving illustrations help in adding credibility to the issues in question. The pointers such as the heavy silence from the US legislators also help as an eye opener to the general audience. The book also takes the American media to task over the issue of debate and compares it to the Jerusalem post which is quite frank and looks at issues from all dimensions which is the opposite of the American media.

The main weakness that can be picked out is that there are some dimensions that have not been adequately covered. The terrorism issue is discussed lightly and the interview and also the book make just a few comments to it. However, it should be noted that terrorism makes up a huge chunk of the US foreign policy and also of the daily politics of the county.

From the perspective of a political scientist, such debates and interviews are quite relevant and would help the citizens of the United States to see issues with greater precision. Although there are many ideas that have not been addressed in the book and also in the interview, the effort is good and should be maintained. Issues such as the interests of the US in the Middle East should be given more prominence since there is evidence that there are some hanging edges that need to be addressed. The foreign policy of the United States should be put to task to make everyone to be at par and informed on the position that the government supports. In my view, the Israel lobby group is hypocritical and it is really not fighting to see the end of the conflict between Israel and Arab.

References

Walt, S. 2006. Conversations with history. Retrieved on October 9, 2012 from http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/Walt/walt-con7.html