US-Israel Relations: The Rise and Fall of a Strategic Partnership

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Abstract

The article uses neoclassical realism to analyze the evolution of US-Israeli relations from its modest beginnings in the 1940s and 50s, to its ‘special’ status today. It is argued that the United States only began to seriously support Israel after Washington decision makers started to perceive the Jewish State as an important proxy in fighting Soviet influence in the Middle East, particularly following the Six Day War of 1967. However with the end of the Cold War Israel’s worth in pursing American interests in the region quickly faded, a change that was, brought into sharp perspective when in the First Persian Gulf War, Israel became a liability for the Americans. The article further argues that in the long run the strategic interests of the US in the region and subsequently the net strategic value of Israel for achieving such interests will be the primary driving factor behind US foreign policy. As a result factors such as the personal convictions of American politicians, the Jewish-American vote and the Israeli lobby would only be able to delay and dampen the future deterioration of the ‘special’ relationship between Washington and Tel-Aviv.

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Article Title [Persian]

US-Israel Relations: The Rise and Fall of a Strategic Partnership

Abstract [Persian]

The article uses neoclassical realism to analyze the evolution of US-Israeli relations from its modest beginnings in the 1940s and 50s, to its ‘special’ status today. It is argued that the United States only began to seriously support Israel after Washington decision makers started to perceive the Jewish State as an important proxy in fighting Soviet influence in the Middle East, particularly following the Six Day War of 1967. However with the end of the Cold War Israel’s worth in pursing American interests in the region quickly faded, a change that was, brought into sharp perspective when in the First Persian Gulf War, Israel became a liability for the Americans. The article further argues that in the long run the strategic interests of the US in the region and subsequently the net strategic value of Israel for achieving such interests will be the primary driving factor behind US foreign policy. As a result factors such as the personal convictions of American politicians, the Jewish-American vote and the Israeli lobby would only be able to delay and dampen the future deterioration of the ‘special’ relationship between Washington and Tel-Aviv.

Keywords [Persian]

  • US-Israel relations
  • US foreign policy
  • Israeli foreign policy
  • the Israel Lobby
  • Cold War rivalry

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