Have you ever wondered why the U.S. would quickly resume arms sales to an unsavory ally after a bloody crackdown on protesters? Why Congress would side with a repressive regime in labeling the opposition as a terrorist threat? Or why an annual spending bill would mandate that foreign aid be spent on a desolate strip of the Sahara?
Sure, U.S. economic and strategic interests may be at play. But for every foreign policy decision our leaders make, it’s usually a safe bet that a small army of hired guns are working behind the scenes to make sure foreign governments’ best interests are protected.
Al-Monitor’s Julian Pecquet and Abigail Kukura have sifted through hundreds of lobbying and financial records to bring you the most comprehensive resource available on Middle East lobbying in Washington. Throughout the month of August, we’ll be revealing the who, the why – and the how much – discreetly guiding all aspects of foreign policy, from weapons contracts and foreign aid to trade deals and financial sanctions.
We’re starting on Aug. 8 with a look at lobbying by the North African nations of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt as well as the disputed territory of the Western Sahara.
Check back with us on Aug. 15 to read up on Iran, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
On Aug. 22, we head to the Levant: Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.
And finally we’ll round things out on Aug. 29 by focusing on the Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
All that information would be pretty useless, however, without some way to measure foreign nations’ success at getting what they want. That’s why we’ve also pored over State Department budgets, Pentagon arms deals and more to reveal the quantifiable ups and downs in US bilateral relations beyond the political spin and diplomatic platitudes. (A special shout-out here to our friends at the nonprofit Security Assistance Monitor, for undertaking the Herculean task of unraveling the tangled net of Defense Department allocations).
And while numbers really can tell a story, it wouldn’t be complete without Al-Monitor’s authoritative reporting and exclusive interviews with some of the key diplomats driving the conversation in Washington.
Go here and click on any of the countries on the map, and find out just who’s helping shape US policy in the Middle East.
On 14 August 2016 at 01:48, LT COL HOWARD wrote to Ted BELMAN:
This series of “exposes”efforts lobbying the US government in behalf of foreign powers and should be of interest to you.It is accessible to you through the Internet. Readers should remember that ALMonitor is a “biased” source with a decided negative slant to Israel.
In my experience Saudi Arabia is the most active influencer. They combine financial resources, charm and the promise of future employment with a university, a think tank and/or a company that does business with the regime. Saudi Arabia has the most impact on the US State Department with some former ambassadors now active at various think tanks promoting the Saudi message as unbiased research findings (emanating from prestigious universities and advisory groups such as Brookings Institution).
Relating to AIPAC, they are billed by the New York Times (and by themselves) as a very influential force in Washington. Like most bureaucracies their major interest is in collecting money and surviving.
Several years ago when the Obama administration was hell-bent on forging an agreement with Iran, I met with the Iranian head of their largest world trading organization. His assessment was that the Obama administration would pressure Jewish Democrats and that in the final analysis these Democrats would buckle under to political pressure and vote to support any agreement that the administration advocated. [He specifically cited representatives Adam Schiff and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.]
Later, AIPAC announced that they would not retaliate against any of the legislators that voted for the agreement. The same Iranian functionary stated that that was an announcement to the world that AIPAC is a paper tiger.