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James F. Petras
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The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East Paperback – May 1, 2014

by James Petras (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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This book provides a unique conception of US empire building, linking overseas expansion with 1) the growth of a police state and declining living standards; 2) advanced technologically driven global spying on adversaries and allies with declining economic competitiveness and military defeats; 3) large scale, long term commitments of economic and military resources to wars in the Middle East to the detriment of major corporate interests, but for the benefit of a pariah state, Israel; and 4) the power of a foreign state (Israel) over US policy via its domestic pro-Zionist power configuration. The interplay of these four specific features of US empire building has no past or present precedent among imperial states. Because of Israeli-Zionist influence on US imperial policy, the main targets and objectives of imperial wars are located in the Middle East. The objectives of Israeli and Zionist- influenced US policy in the Middle East is to enhance Israeli regional power and the dispossession of the Palestinian people. The trillion dollar cost of US wars for Israel, however, has alienated the vast majority of US society and driven a wedge between the political elite backing new wars for Israel, and the public prioritizing of domestic economic welfare. This study highlights how the domestic foundations of empire building have deteriorated and forced the imperial presidency to modify its approach, seeking diplomatic negotiations over new military interventions, specifically in the cases of Syria and Iran. Imperial politics is viewed as a multi-sided power struggle between military and economic elites, Israel and the Zionist power configuration, overseas resistance movements and nationalist regimes, and the US public. The resolution of this power struggle is more than an academic question; it will determine whether the US will become a full blown police state, ruled by the pawns of a racist-colonial state engaged in endless wars or return to its roots as an independent democratic republic “free of foreign entanglements”.
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  1. Print length
    154 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    May 1, 2014
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0986073105
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0986073106
  7. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

felixnola
5.0 out of 5 stars Petras On His Game As Usual...
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am pretty sure I purchased this book prior to publication. Just like all of the learned Professor's Books; you won't be let down. I've read them all. As usual, Petras's Books are very readable and flow while staying on point with footnotes. His latest work is another masterpiece to add to your collection. If you desire a well-researched treatise which proves, in detail, the Zionist control of Congress; the Administration; and our foreign policy (and what's to come); you won't be let down. Highly recommended to anyone seeking a clear and concise understanding of middle eastern policy and the players behind it.
10 people found this helpful
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Bud
4.0 out of 5 stars Petras speaks out
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a basic diatribe against our sold out government and the duplicitous presidential servants fo rbanks and the Israeli lobby. Obama is awarded the honor of being called the greatest liar of them all.
5 people found this helpful
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TYRONE 091209
5.0 out of 5 stars VERY INFORMATIVE BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2017
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I loved this book, James PETRAS has a beautifully engageing writing style very easy to follow, I felt like I was there watching the events as they unfolded.
2 people found this helpful
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Loco2
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015
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I highly recommend this book for anybody who seeks to understand the reasons for the situation that has been created in the Middle East.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One sided perception on a complex middle east conflict
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2015
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One sided perception on a complex middle east conflict
One person found this helpful
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Arnd Jurgensen
5.0 out of 5 stars insightful and clear analysis
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2014
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this book is up to his usual standard of clear analysis and crisp argumentation. A thought provoking book. I highly recommend it.
6 people found this helpful
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Philip M. Kayal
5.0 out of 5 stars Truth Be Told
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2014
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Finally, a relatively objective discussion on the influence of the Zionist lobby on American and World Politics.
7 people found this helpful
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Dr. Ludwig Watzal
5.0 out of 5 stars The Zionist Lobby must be stopped
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014
The Israeli military went again on a rampage against the ghettoized people in the Gaza strip. The last time, they “visited” the walled-in strip at the turn of the year 2008/09, they slaughtered 1 400 Palestinians. In 2014, they killed over 2 100 Palestinians, 80 per cent civilians, injured over 10 000, made over 300 000 homeless and ravaged the infrastructure. Israel’s patron, the US Empire, did not lift a finger in 2008/09; neither did it this time. This one-sided relationship is analyzed by James Petras, an award-winning author and Professor Emeritus, in a global geopolitical perspective.

In 2000, "the imperial military and ideological apparatus for direct intervention was firmly in place." 9/11 seemed godsend. The objectives of the planned serial wars "were defined by their principal Zionist and militarists architects" as the following: First, "destroying regimes and states (that) have opposed Israel's annexation of Palestine." Secondly, "deposing regimes which promoted independent nationalist policies, opposing or threatening the Gulf puppet monarchist regimes and supporting anti-imperialist, secular or nationalist-Islamic movements around the world."

Blinded by their imperial hubris, neither the Zionists nor the civilian militarists within the US administration anticipated prolonged national resistance from the attacked countries, writes Petras. The destruction of the entire political, administrative and military infrastructure by the US invaders and their willful European executioners created a "political vacuum", which was never a problem for the embedded Zionists in the US Administration, "since their ultimate goal was to devastate Israel's enemies". According to the author, under the Obama presidency, "a new 'cast' of embedded Zionists has emerged to target Iran and prepare the US for a new war on Israel's behalf". After Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the UN General Assembly in September and his visit to the White House, 345 members of the US Congress signed a letter, in which they demanded from President Obama to remain tough with Iran. Netanyahu had raised the same demand from President Obama. It's the first time that US Members of Congress publicly oppose their own president while supporting the demands of a foreign government!

The book is unique in providing an overall concept that links empire-building and foreign interventions to the domestic emergence of a police state, declining standards of living, advanced global spying on allies and adversaries, large scale commitments to wars in the Middle east to the detriment of major corporate interest, but for the benefit of its client State of Israel, and the power of a foreign state over US policy via its Zionist lobby. The question can be raised weather US foreign policy is bad for US corporations. Didn't Hulliburton make a fortune, when the George W. Bush and his cronies attacked Iraq?

In this study, the author concentrates on US empire-building measures in the Middle East. Here, the ZPC comes into play. In this specific region, Zionist power has played an important role "in harnessing the US Empire to serving the regional power projections of Israel". According to Petras, this fact is underlined by "the importance of the domestic political power relations in shaping US imperial policy, the importance of military ideology over economic interests; and the role of 'dual citizens' with foreign allegiances in subverting a potentially democratic foreign policy".

Petras regards the Zionist lobby as the most important factor in shaping US foreign policy in the Middle East. This goes beyond the influence of AIPAC because there exists a whole string of pro-Israeli think tanks, a power configuration of 52 Jewish organizations, influential individuals in the media and the military, plus leverage over the US Congress. It seems as if the author overrates the influence of the Zionist lobby, which influences and even determines US foreign policy, downplaying US policies mainly affected by the military, financial and industrial elites. Globally, Israel performs a useful role for the US in the region. In case of emergency, Israel would safeguard the Jordanian or the Saudi regimes from being overthrown either by internal unrest or foreign intervention.

The author argues that the loss of trust between the power elite and the majority of the American people is one of the leading factors influencing US foreign policy. Although the geopolitical analysis of James Petras' newest book is convincing in many aspects, his focus on the Zionist Power Configuration and a subservient US Congress does not show the whole picture of US imperial interests. The domestic power configurations are more complex. For the political class of the United States, it would be a damning indictment, if Israel or its stakeholders would be the sole power brokers in terms of US foreign policy.

Whether the 21st century will be an American one, has to be seen, although, according to Petras, "there is no alternative imperial or modern anti-imperial tendency on the immediate horizon". Right now, the US makes more enemies than friends. Its new adventurism in Syria and Iraq may turn out to be even more disastrous for the US than the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Petras' book gives the readers an insight in the making of US foreign policy, which appears multifarious and determined by a power struggle between different elites.

An important book in order to understand the underlying forces that determine US foreign policy to the detriment of the American people.

Dr. Ludwig Watzal works as a journalist and editor in Bonn, Germany.
12 people found this helpful
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