America in the World's Briefings

The United States and Israel

That America is a friend of Israel is well known. While this is often explained as owing to an unrepresentative Israel lobby, the underlying explanation is American public opinion. Pro-Israeli feeling is very strong among ordinary Americans, who see in a fellow settler nation a functioning democracy surrounded by hostile undemocratic states. The record of American foreign policy is also clearly far from slavishly pro-Israel and anti-Arab, with America often aiding other nations in the region.

The myth of an all-powerful Israel Lobby
If the notion of an all-powerful Israel lobby dictating American foreign policy ignores the central fact explaining why American policies have so often, though not always, been pro-Israel.

The UK-US Special Relationship in the 21st Century

It is received wisdom for many that Tony Blair’s desire to make Britain a bridge between America and Europe, and to support the United States in the war on terror, meant Britain was walked over. This was most commonly expressed as the idea of Blair as President Bush’s ‘poodle’, who did as he was told and got nothing in return. In reality, Blair requested and received much.

The UK-US Special Relationship: Myths and Reality

Myth: America did not support Britain during the Falklands War
Fact: To the frustration of Margaret Thatcher, the Reagan Administration was divided between the ‘Atlanticists’ who favoured Britain and the ‘Latinistas’ who opposed America coming out in support. But Thatcher succeeded in persuading President Reagan that backing Britain had greater value than supporting the existential, geographical pull of Argentina. US Defence Secretary Casper Weinberger led America’s effort to support Britain and supplied the UK military with much needed equipment such as submarine detectors, missiles and aircraft fuel.[1] That Britain was able to win this argument when there were divisions within the US Government is evidence of British influence not impotence.

The United States and Latin America: Myths and Reality

Myth: With the United States preoccupied by the war on terror and Iraq, ties with Latin America have deteriorated substantially in recent years
Fact: The US preserves strong relations with the majority of nations in the Hemisphere. It has negotiated free trade agreements with eleven of Latin America’s 34 nations and provides extensive free trade access to most others.  Nine of the agreements have been ratified and implemented and the other two (with Colombia and Panama) are currently pending before the US Congress.  Assistance and funding have substantially increased for a wide range of assistance programs.  Strong support for Colombia, where the security situation has improved dramatically, has helped bring this nation back from the brink of failure.  Despite differences on trade, relations with Brazil are on a solid footing.

The United States and Iraq

In all of our briefings, our authors aim to make a reasonable case and supply the facts and referencing to support the argument made. But some briefings make a more controversial case than others. We consider this one of our more controversial briefings.

Ten questions and answers on America’s involvement in Iraq.

Did the US go to war for oil?
No. In fact the United States imports only a small portion of its oil from the Middle East. Most US oil imports come from secure sources in Canada and Mexico. The primary reason for resuming hostilities against the regime of Saddam Hussein (halted after the ceasefire at the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991) was that Iraq failed to meet its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, particularly with regard to declaring the state of banned weapons programs. Iraq’s December 7, 2002 “full and complete” weapons declaration was particularly troubling, recycling past denials and containing little new information, making it clear that Saddam Hussein was unwilling to abide by the agreements signed in 1991. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC, the administration was deeply concerned that Iraq possessed nuclear, biological, and chemical and might share them with transnational terrorist groups.

America and Human Rights

In the wake of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and the Bush Administration’s lack of clarity on practices such as ‘water-boarding’, considered by many to be torture, the United States has been widely criticised on human rights issues. The US has become regarded by many as somewhat hypocritical – and for the most strident anti-Americans, the US is talked of as a human rights abuser far more frequently than North Korea, Burma or Sudan.