Congress and the Shaping of the Middle East [Hardcover]

How does one explain US Middle East policy? When Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer wrote their bestselling book The Israel Lobby, they attributed our pro-Israel policy to the power of the lobby itself. Others have criticized this approach as overly simplistic. Longtime Middle East watcher Professor Kirk Beattie provides a profound assessment of Congress’s role by examining the vetting of congressional candidates, campaign financing, congressional staffing, bipartisan alliances within the Senate and the House, and the agenda-driven allocation of foreign aid and policymaking. He addresses the many internal and external pressures that impact such processes. His findings, based on roughly two hundred interviews with congressional staffers, lobbyists, members of Congress, and foreign embassy officials across years of research, untangle the issue to show us how Congress really works.

Kirk Beattie’s Congress and the Shaping of the Middle East is a stunning achievement.  His extensive in-depth interviews and careful empirical analysis offer a convincing portrait of how various special interest groups operate on Capitol Hill, and Beattie shows exactly why the influence of the 'Israel lobby' is so persistent there.  Anyone who wants to understand why US Middle East policy stumbles so often should read this thoughtful, compelling, and well-researched book.”
—Stephen Walt, coauthor ofThe Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy

“Kirk Beattie is among the first to conduct systematic research on the role of the legislative branch in US foreign policy, and on the impact of the Israel lobbies. Specialists have theorized on this issue, but Beattie's careful fieldwork delivers the goods.”
—Juan Cole, author ofThe New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation Is Changing the Middle Eastand former president of the Middle East StudielS4