Thursday, February 9, 2012

Israel's Role In Foreign Affairs

It is clear that Israel is a key player in world affairs. To many in the West, Israel is seen as an indispensible ally, while to others, particularly in the Middle East, it is viewed as a provocateur and invoked as a justification for violence. In fact, some people (generally those in the latter camp) believe that Israel is pulling all the strings of Western foreign policy. And there are people who think that Jews secretly run the world. Clearly, a lot is attributed to Israel/the Jews.

While I do think that the West, and in particular the U.S., are very vested in Israel’s security and exhibit a public bias toward the nation in their handling of regional conflicts, I don’t think that it’s fair to say that Israel is calling all of the shots. And the idea that Jews control the world does not even deserve comment. In fact, I would say, quite contrarily, that Israel has more often been used as a tool by the West in pursuit of their own goals, and that a general anger over colonialism/neo-colonialism has to some extent been unfairly (I will admit, also to some extent fairly) displaced onto Israel, as the visible arm of Western colonialism in the Middle East.

For example, let’s look at the creation of this nation-state. The establishment of the state of Israel could not have occurred if Britain, the occupier of the territory, did not will it. And Britain did not will it because of its sympathy for the victims of Nazi genocide. It had been planning the creation of a Jewish state prior to WW2 as a strategy to counter any potential expansionary aims of the new Egyptian regime. The British took advantage of the Zionist attitudes and devastation felt by the Jews in order to place colonial agents in the region.  And they continued to use Israel as a check against the emergence of any regional power that could threaten Western hegemony.

It is true that Israel lobbies, both directly and through its organized American supporters, for particular foreign policy interventions whose strategic aim is to prevent the rise of any regional power that could rival Israel. This is rational. It is also true that the U.S. often seems to bend to the sway of this influence. However, that is only because the U.S.'s own strategic objectives happen to dovetail, in large part, with Israel's. The U.S., as world hegemonic power and chief instrument of neocolonialism for the capitalist class, also does not want any regional power to emerge in the Middle East. But the U.S. interest is in maintaining control over as much of the region as possible, and the rise of any hostile power would threaten that control. Israel just happens to be a useful ally.

Israel may have a lot of nukes, but the global elite is strong and globally integrated.  And the bottom line, under capitalism, is always the bottom line:  profit.

No comments:

Post a Comment