Ethnic Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy

Abstract

Collections of essays or articles do not often get reviewed in scholarly journals. One reason why these books are bypassed by reviewers is the absence of a running theme in the volumes. The book under review fortunately does have a connecting theme: the efforts of various ethnic Americans to influence foreign policy on behalf of countries or commuruties. The examples most familiar to political scientists are those of Jewish Americans for Israel and Afro-Americans for South African Blacks. Three contributors focus on the Middle East, two on central America, and one each on South Africa, PoJand, and Ireland. The major conclusion of the book seems to be that cohesive ethnic groups canvassing on behalf of single countries (Jews for Israel) are likely to be most successful, whereas Arab Americans or Blacks trying to influence U.S. foreign policy on a whole block of countries in the Middle East or Africa are less likely to be successful. The editor, Mohammad Ahrari, has written a very insightful conclusion, and. as with his other books (OPEC, the Failing Giant, and The Dynamics of Oil Diplomacy) has broken new ground in the emerging field of ethnic influences on foreign policies. One hopes that he will be able to give attention to the cases of lobbies like those of the Greeks, Armenians, Sikhs and Asian Indian Muslims settled in America ...