ISRAHELLI THINK TANK INSS ... The Return of Liberal Interventionism?INSS Insight No. 436 http://www.inss.org.il/publications.php?cat=21&incat=&read=11627
Angst over the mounting crisis in Syria was matched only by angst over potential military involvement. Meanwhile, Washington became consumed first by the wrangling over cutting government deficits and then by the Benghazi, IRS, Associated Press, and NSA scandals.Into this picture walk Rice and Power. Their entry does not mean that the United States will restore its defense budget, reverse its pivot to Asia, or impose a no-fly zone over Syria. But it does signal that Obama is personally interested in liberal interventionists sitting at the decision table. In an unstable Middle East where other powers have become active in arming supporters, even a subtle shift toward a more active US policy could have strategic implications.For Israel, these developments are important – and in some respects, ironic. Israeli policymakers, as well as the public, have long viewed liberal interventionism with suspicion. The instinct of liberal interventionism is to support the weak against the strong and to promote idealistic objectives over realpolitik. Both on the Israeli street and in the halls of power, this perspective is suspected to be contrary to Israel’s interests. Liberal interventionism has been associated with support for the Palestinians. The 2002 video clip of Samantha Power toeing a hostile anti-Israel line fits well with this preconception.Yet the bias may be outdated, as may be the fear. The greater risk for Israel is not that the United States will arm Fatah gunmen to attack the IDF. The US is highly unlikely to turn its aid toward Palestinian militants, as Power strangely argued in 2002. [[[[Instead, the greater risk is that the United States will draw back from the Middle East entirely. Here Israel has a common interest with the liberal interventionists, just as it did with the neo-conservatives. Israel’s interest is for the United States to exercise influence and power in the Middle East, containing uncertain forces such as Russia or China or hostile ones such as the Iranian regime ]]]]]or Sunni jihadists.
[ed notes:the u.s. regardless of wether demorats or repukes is still controlled by zionist jewish lobby,thats undebatable..we know us(zionist controlled allies or rather its gulf client regimes are funding,and arming the sunni jihadists)and us doenst stop them,wich means they serve us interests ,for an appointed time..until wich the west and us all zionists then make the case for removing assad thru military intervention and then justifying the occupation by claiming to go after the very same groups their puppet gulf allies armed and paid to go there in first place...what they wont do is attack those client regime sin gulf who set up the sunni jihadist foreigners to go to Syria,wich tells it all,that gcc and those jihadists they sponsor are serving the broader goals of western interventionists...
If liberal interventionists endorse that goal – even if to promote human rights rather than help Israel per se – it would work to Israel's advantage.Moreover, the liberal interventionists could help Israel on another key front: the battle for US public opinion. Liberal interventionists such as Power are opinion leaders among Democratic constituencies. In the long term, support for Israel in the United States will depend in large part on a continued strong position for Israel in US public opinion. Good standing among liberal interventionist elites could help Israel achieve that objective and buttress its bipartisan support. Israel and its supporters would do well, therefore, to opt for cooption, not confrontation.Some leading American Jewish voices may have started, cautiously, on this tack. The strong support for Samantha Power from the Anti-Defamation League and Alan Dershowitz may prove leading indicators. The Israeli government, which must maintain distance in internal US matters, cannot follow suit in so open a voice, but it should not be seen as adopting an opposite position.In meeting that threat of disengagement, liberal interventionists could be Israel’s friends. It would be wise to start making those friends now.