ETHNIC LOBBIES IN THE US CONGRESS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON DECISION MAKING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/Keywords:
Lobby, Congress, AIPAC, Serbian Unity CongressAbstract
The paper deals with three examples of ethnic lobbies in the US Congress, trying to determine more and less successful examples from the three mentioned. Israeli, Armenian and Serbian lobbies are being described. The author presents their activities, experiences, the scope of their activities in the Congress, but also clear indications of the path to take in order to achieve a successful lobby in the Congress and avoid the traps of unsuccessful examples, using empirical parameters and professional literature. The author was guided by the hypothesis that a successful lobby cannot be realized in Washington if there is no connection between the agile embassy of a given state in the USA, the organized diaspora and certain but achievable foreign policy goals of a state that wants to achieve diplomatic success in the USA and bring its interests closer to Washington. The second hypothesis highlights the weak effect of engaging lobby firms to exert the influence of a particular state in Washington, with numerous unsuccessful examples. The conclusion of the author is that the best performance, along with breaking the stereotype about the monetary influence in the Congress, is certainly the persistent and organized work of the diplomatic mission in conjunction with the instructed and mobilized diaspora in the USA.
References
[1] Avetisyan Suren, A Master Essay, The Role of the Armenian Diaspora in the USA, American University of Armenia, School of Political Science and International Affairs, Yerevan, 2013, p. 24.
[2] Gregg Heather S., Working Paper #13, Divided They Conquer: The Success of Armenian Ethnic Lobbies in the United States, 2002, p. 10.
[3] Kassab Hanna Samir, Weak States in International Relations Theory, Palgrave McMillan, New York, 2015, p. 127.
[4] Marrar Khalil, The Arab Lobby and US Foreign Policy, Routledge, New York, 2008, p. 5.
[5] Mearsheimer John J., Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, p. 119.
[6] Ness Immanuel, Encyclopedia of Interest Groups and Lobbyists in the United States, Volume Two, p. 600.
[7] Stefanović Borko, Depeša Vašington, Dan graf, 2017, str. 49–53.
[8] Tromblay Darren E., Political Influence Operations, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, 2018, p. 124.
[9] Zarifian Julien, The Armenian-American Lobby and Its Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy, Springer, New York, 2014, p. 507.
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