Playing Pin the War on the Lobby

Abstract

International Relations (IR) “Realists” John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have entered the realm of identity politics. Their maiden voyage inside the “black box” of the state, a recent paper entitled “The Israel Lobby,” is likely their most famous but least credible work. In apportioning blame for the US invasion of Iraq, they dismiss any influence of energy dependence or geopolitical interests, while attributing causal responsibility to an expansively defined “Israel Lobby,” claims as specious as they are ethnically charged. Where their critique of US and Israeli policies is right, it suggests that key parts of their theories of international politics are wrong. In ivory tower IR, “The Israel Lobby” represents a theoretical transgression on the part of orthodox “Realists.” In real-world politics, Mearsheimer and Walt’s essay presents d/Democratic opponents of the US invasion of Iraq and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank with the opportunity to distinguish principled protest from scapegoating.