The Israel Lobby and U.S. foreign Policy John Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt "The Israel Lobby,” by John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Originally published in the London Review of Books in March 2006, it provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. According to The New York Times Magazine it "slammed into the opinion-making world with a Category 5 force". Now, in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in the Middle East. They describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively works to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. Mearsheimer and Walt provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America’s posture throughout the Middle East - in Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Lebanon - and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the policies it has encouraged are profoundly damaging to both America’s national interest and Israel’s long-term security. The lobby’s influence also affects America’s relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror. […] John J. Mersheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the codirector of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He has published several books, including The Tragedy of Great Power Politics Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was academic dean of the Kennedy School from 2002 to 2006. He is the author of Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy, among other books.