A Research Of The Weakening Influence Of Jewish Interest Groups On American Middle East Policy Under The Obama Administration

It is well-known that America has the largest number of interest groups due to its particular political system,ideology and the concept of multiculturalism.With strong economic and political strength,interest groups always leave a mark on American domestic and foreign policy,and the Middle East policy is no exception.American Jewish interest groups make demands on U.S.government,Congress and presidents and try to make policies and decisions on Israel's behalf.Their mission is to safeguard national interests of Israel.People gradually have the impression that the United States has been partial to Israel.However,all of this changed dramatically since the Obama administration was in power in 2009.Obama not only rebuilt relations with Islamic world but also talked with Iran repeatedly,and started to extend an olive branch to Iran.This paper aims to demonstrate that the influence of Jewish interest groups on the Middle East policy is limited and actually weakened through the analysis of a series of new policies,especially the Iran nuclear issue and the Israeli-Palestinian issue since President Obama took office in 2009.Then the paper attempts to explore the restricting factors from external and internal situations of America.To sum up,the gradual weakening influence of American Jewish interest groups is the balanced result of American interests under the background of pluralism.In the paper writing process,literature analysis,case study and interdisciplinary research methods are used.The structure of the thesis is divided into seven chapters as follows:The first chapter is the introduction part,where the author provides a brief introduction to the purpose and the significance of the research,the research background at home and abroad,innovation points,the basic argument and framework of the research.The second chapter is the theoretical basis of the research,including its main contents and predicaments.The third chapter introduces main contents of the Jewish interest group.On the basis of the basic knowledge of interest groups,the author gives a detailed account of the early history and current situation of American Jews,the rise and development and function ways of Jewish interest groups in America.Chapter Four firstly points out the unique geo-strategic position of the Middle East and American interests in the region.Then reviews the contents of Middle East policy under Obama administration and summarizes the characteristics of the policy.In chapter Five the Iran issue and Israeli-Palestinian issue of Obama's Middle East policy are chosen as cases for study.First is the retrospect of Iran nuclear issue and Israeli-Palestine conflict.Then the paper points out the disagreements between Obama administration and Jewish interest groups on the above mentioned two issues.Finally,a thorough explanation about Jewish interest groups' influence on U.S.policy towards Iran and Israel is elaborated in detail.Chapter Six is the reason analysis.The paper analyzes the restricting factors of Jewish interest groups' influence from internal and external aspects.The external elements include descended international status,pressure from rising powers and balance need of American foreign policy.The internal elements consist of four parts-constraints of U.S.national interests,constraints of Arabian interest groups,constraints of Iranian lobby groups and constraints of Jewish dual identity.The last chapter is conclusion.Through the case study of the Iran nuclear issue and Israeli-Palestinian issue of Obama's Middle East policy,this paper draws the conclusion that the Jewish interest groups' influence on American Middle East policy has been weakened gradually despite its unshakable influence for the moment.