Michael Barnett is University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the George Washington University. His research interests include the Middle East, humanitarian action, global governance, global ethics, and the United Nations. Among his many books are Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda; Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order; Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism; Rules for the World: International Organizations in World Politics (with Martha Finnemore). Currently, he is an Associate Editor of International Organization. Professor Barnett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the recipient of many grants and awards for his research.
The following exchange will focus on his most recent book, The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of the American Jews (Princeton University Press).
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Dear Professor Barnett,
Your new book sets out to explore “Jewish Foreign Policies” in America. This is a very curious term you use, one that could be misconstrued as implying that America's Jews are some kind of a political entity with its own political institutions and its own foreign policy. I'd like to use this first introductory round to let you explain the term, which 'Jews' it refers to, and what's your rationale behind using it. So what is a “Jewish foreign policy?”
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Dear Shmuel,
The short answer is: I use the concept of Jewish foreign policies – not policy – for the simple reason that I recognize that American Jews have a range of beliefs and views, both at any one time and over time. Indeed, the very premise of the book – that American Jews (just like all Jews) are torn between universalism and particularism should tell us right away that we are talking about something quite pluralistic and not monolithic.
The slightly longer answer is: I see the Jews as a transnational political community. All political communities are worried about their survival and want to advance their values vis-à-vis those outside its boundaries. Any political community that attempts to promote its interest and values “abroad” can be said to have the goal of creating a foreign policy.
Here goes the longish, and more academic, answer:
Foreign policy is the process by which a political community organizes its relations with “outsiders” for the purpose of protecting its fundamental interests and values. All political communities, to the extent that they want to survive and even advance their values, will have a foreign policy. Although international relations scholars tend to imagine that the only political communities that exist in the world are nation-states, and that these states protect the “national” interest, there are non-state actors, such as nations without states, which also have a foreign policy. One of the interesting features of 19th century Jewish political life was the extent to which the emergence of a transnational Jewish political community began to organize and assemble institutions for the purpose of advancing Jewish interests and values. Bottom line: to say that there is Jewish foreign policy means acknowledging that the Jewish political community wants to protect its identity, interests, and values.
States have an easier time making foreign policy than do transnational communities because they have authority and sovereignty, which means that they are seen by the international community as having the right to make and promote the community’s interests and values. Mind you, having and being able to exercise that right are two different things, and many states, and especially those, like the United States, that have a divided government, have a difficult time creating a centralized and coordinated foreign policy. Be that as it may, we can expect transnational political communities to operate with various centers of gravity and to compete for authority and influence to represent the community’s interests and values.
So, my understanding of the Jewish political community expects that different Jewish national communities, e.g. French, British, German, and American, will have distinct institutions that are intended to represent “Jewish” interests. And because the Jews are a transnational people, there will always be some blurring of the boundaries between the transnational and the national; that is, we can expect that the American Jewish community will attempt to find ways to represent both its interests and the broader interests of the Jewish people, though this will always be something of a challenge.
And when you dig deeper into the American Jewish community you will find sharp disagreements over how to protect the identity, interests, and values of the (American) Jews.
A final cautionary note: There is nothing insidious about a people wanting to organize to protect its identity, interests, and values. It is natural. It requires anti-Semitism to turn such natural tendencies into something dangerous and malevolent.
