US and Middle East: Special Relationship

Posted: September 4th, 2013

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US and Middle East: Special Relationship

Introduction

The US-Israeli Special Relationship

            Israel is one of the Middle East countries, which the United States decided to bind ties with on beneficial grounds. The special  relationship began in May, 1948 after the first Israeli president, Chaim Weizman accepted Harry Truman’s pledge pertaining to united states’ support for the state. The idea was for both states to progress in their ventures and Israeli truly developed in terms of military, diplomatic, political and financial efforts. Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy were the men who initiated this rapport with their interests founded on enduring steadiness in the Middle East rather than a short lived political dimension.

Kennedy provided the Jewish state with a dense military support to enable it retaliate on the Arab hostility. Meanwhile, the United States was attempting to build a base in the Middle East. Since then, the special relationship has been seen to have an extension of religious, economic and academic bond. The argument of the United States inconstantly aiding Israel is that the funds are recycled back into the American economy when Israel purchases military weapons from the U.S and that the Israel community has been supportive at military intelligence level. Most information relayed by Israelis to the American government has been quite useful. The Israel lobby in the United States has also influenced the state’s foreign policy by ensuring that it in favor of Israel.

Therefore, the relationship encompasses strategic cooperation, economic ties, intellectual connections, foreign policies and shared value initiatives. However, it appears that America loses more than it gains from the relationship, and this requires constant and valid evaluation. The major thing that brought the two nations together was military grounds, and this creates a global picture of war tolerance. Israel has foes in many places, and with the United States funding their wars, humanity is endangered. Muslim countries are spiteful of America because of the instigation of the Israel-Arab conflict through funding of such wars, and Israel is becoming too dependent on America.

The Israel lobby has also impacted negatively on American interests because the individuals has encouraged the American state to direct, material assistance to Israel and promote Israel’s policies of which some were unfavorable. The relationship appears to do more harm than good on the American side. Critics term the special relationship as a liability to the United States. It has had a negative impact on the interests of the United States foreign policy.

Problem statement

            United States is losing major allies as Turkey due to the special relationship with Israel that supports the atrocities of the Jewish state. With the military support given to them by America, Israel tyrannized Palestinian and Turkish civilians leading turkey to cut ties between the two states. In effect, Turkey opted for strategic relationships with enemies of the United States. This presents a huge threat to America. The Gaza disaster, the Israel lobby prompted by Israel led to America’s loss of a very important ally, Turkey.

The state’s significance to the United States has its weight on the fact that Turkey availed military bases to U.S and allowed her to station nuclear weapons in Turkey. The state’s diplomatic actions among other Muslim territories made her a valuable asset to U.S. She has collaborated with China and has evolved as the second fastest growing economy in the world. The problem U.S is facing here is the loss of such turgid economies due to her ‘special relationship’ with Israel yet the latter is recognized as an international terrorist. It is the U.S that spend s billions funding all Israeli wars and those same wars are what cause withdrawal of allies from America’s side. This gives in-depth insight on the cause of the problem.

Turkey was angered by the U.S’s disregard of the evidence presented by UN concerning Israel’s inhumanity towards civilians without critically analyzing the situation. Instead, the united state condoned the issue by siding with Israel. The U.S has lost her role as the dominant player in the Middle East is trying to be successful without help from NATO or the U.S. America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is slowly losing ground and action should be taken to prevent her from being overthrown by other allied champions who are her adversaries. If the issue is not dealt with, chances are that China, Turkey’s relationship will become stronger, and U.S will lose the Incirlik air base and a naval and naval base at the Mediterranean coast to China. The U.S will not be able to venture into the Middle East. Consequently, Turkey will venture into coalitions that would take over the Persian Gulf’s oil reserves. China would clearly take over U.S’s chances. The question is; how much of help will Israel have at hand to overpower such a drastic downfall? If Israel is isolated from the alliance of most countries in the Middle East, Turkey included, the U.S will not have as much prowess and power as it earlier had to aid Israel. Both states will be in a predicament, and the U.S needs to maintain a balance of power with her competitors.

Literature Review

            In their book, “The Israel Lobby and U.S Foreign Policy,” John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt have exhausted the idea of pro-Israeli influence on the foreign policy and the negative impacts that resulted from that. The book is deemed as controversial because it encapsulates the reason behind the pummeled the U.S Middle Eastern policy and the scrutiny of the special relationship between the U.S and Israel. The two writers find the policy unfavorable and lacking benefit as far as American interests are concerned. They introduce the critical book by stressing the need for American citizens to introduce a verbal platform to examine their interests in the region and the primary factors such as the Israel lobby, which influence the American, foreign policy.

The book explores the weight of the assistance the U.S has showered Israel with, and both authors argue that it is uneven to what U.S gets back. There is more assistance directed to Israel than other countries and America creams this by additional diplomatic support. Mearsheimer and Walt attempt to explain why the so-called ‘special relationship’ exists and further argue that the rapport is neither strategic nor morally upright. They claim that Israel has become only a liability to America. To a vivid extent, there is validity to their claims because U.S is nearly losing major allies in the Middle East section and the reason behind this is her relationship with Israel despite the ideology of Israel being an international terrorist as perceived by Turkey. Furthermore, there will be too much tension if the Muslim countries in the Middle East become America’s foes. U.S is about to lose her chance of exploring oil resources in the region.

Mearsheimer and Walt find it irrational that the special relationship is still intact even after the collapse of the Berlin wall. They view American support for Israel as an inadvertent mechanism to promote terrorism at the expense of America’s relations with other countries. The authors concur with the fact that the Israel lobby is the major factor influencing the U.S policy in support of Israel. They also believe that most citizens of the U.S also support Israeli policies because of the Israel lobby groups that are on the media’s neck. They highlight that the one-sided support seen in the ‘special relationship’ will not serve as a long-term strategy for America and that the government should go a notch higher in the peace process.

They two authors relate the spiteful nature of Muslims who are against America, to the U.S-Israel relationship. This can be justified by American bombings that have destroyed parts of America and even her other ventures. Therefore, the authors express their views of Israel being a bully of the Middle East and question insistently on the justification of billions of money given to Israel as aid. They deem the Israel lobby as an instigator that inclines the U.S foreign policy towards Israel’s aggression. They also propose that America is fighting Israel’s battles as seen in the war against Iraq. To them the lobby controls the congress; hence, not much against Israel can be said in America.

Recommendations

This American situation in the foreign dimension needs to be addressed so that America can be assured of achieve its interests in the Middle East region. The American government should appoint a commission top review the Middle East policy. Considering that, Israel is responsible for the killings of Palestinian and Turkish civilians and this brought friction between them and other countries in the Middle East, U.S must magnify Palestinian-Israel peace talks. This will also benefit America because they will earn the relationship between them and Middle East countries and reestablish themselves in the region.

The U.S should also support Palestinian freedom and equality. Palestinians have been deprived of their rights by Israelis; hence, the American government should give them equal support just as that of Israel. The government should also aid the Palestinians in their nonviolent methods to attain their rights. Since many Israelis have already commenced the peace process with Palestinians, the U.S government should work in this accordance and support the Israelis Peace and Human Rights Movement.

The commission should also review the relationship between Turkey and U.S and develop strategies to replenish the broken relationship through a concise diplomatic move. Once the U.S reclaims the relationship, which of course will be after the Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, U.S will have a chance to venture into the oil resource and have a good military and security base.

The American government together with the commission should also put regulations on the spectrum of the Israel lobby and its influence on the state’s foreign policy. There should be an analysis of the interests of the lobby groups and a measure of their importance when related to the American interests. The organizations should not be ignored, but instead there should be an avenue inducing debate and conclusions by weighing of the pros and cons of their needs.

The U.S government should not fight the wars of the Israelis all the time. The amount of military and financial support offered should also instill independence in Israel in that they can organize peace talks to reduce the tension and aggression in the Middle East. U.S should exceedingly support Israel at the expense of other Middle East countries if it wants to thrive in the area. Her assistance should be evenly spread to justify Israel’s reciprocation. America’s partnership with Jewish state should be because Israel respects international law and humanity globally.

The commission should also work with reputable analyst who will advise the president on which chances to take and which move to make in times of a crisis. The congress should also be accommodative to the views that touch on international relations, and they should be firm with decisions made concerning the ideas and views of the Israel lobby. The Israel lobby should also be willing to work in unison with the U.S congress without conflict. In case of a disagreement, there should be calm mediation and arbitration for a stronger co-existence. The U.S Middle East policy should work towards promoting human rights in the region and in other countries America has delved into for further interests.

Conclusion

            The American, foreign policy determines its relations with other countries. Therefore, its effect depends on how well it is developed and implemented. The relationship can be harmful or beneficial. Generally, it is based on mutual benefits like in the case of America and Israel where they became allies for military and diplomatic support. The special relationship between America and Israel cannot be stopped but can be redressed. This is because the bond between the two states has gone deeper since the cold war. It however, threatened to harm America by putting her at a risk of losing potential and established allies, which is also a risk of losing chances to explore resources and invest in their territories. The U.S policy in the Middle East is rather not proportional because it centers a lot on Israel despite the fact that the Jewish state has been termed as an international terrorist. The picture painted was that U.S is supporting a monster state that worked to ruin the devotion of a state like Turkey unjustly. The fact the U.S was fighting all Israelis wars despite the UN evidence of Israel as a slain also corrupts the policy. Concisely, the foreign policy should not undermine the interest of the American economy, and it should work to accommodate various countries in the Middle East. America cannot get access to oil in the Persian Gulf with only Israel on its side. She needs to double her advantages and get assets rather than liabilities. Finally, there is a dire need for peace talks in the Middle East.

Work Cited

Hale, William M. Turkey, the Us and Iraq. London: Saqi, 2007. Print.

International Journal of Middle East Studies. London: Cambridge University Press, 1970. Print.\

Israel Affairs. Ilford, Essex, U.K: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, 1994. Print.

Mearsheimer, John J, and Stephen M. Walt. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.

Nachmani, Amikam. Israel, Turkey, and Greece: Uneasy Relations in the East Mediterranean. London: F. Cass, 1987. Print.