Foreign attachments : the power of ethnic groups in the making of American foreign policy

204 Pages·2002·7.672 MB·English

by  Tony Smith

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Foreign Policy
1
Who speaks for America in world affairs?
In this insightful new book, Tony Smith
finds that, often, the answer is interest
groups, including ethnic ones. This seems
natural in a country defined by ethnic and
cultural diversity and a democratic political
system. And yet, should not the nation’s for­
eign policy be based on more general inter­
n
ests? On American national interests?
In exploring this question, Smith ranges
over the history of ethnic group involvement
in foreign affairs; he notes the openness of
our political system to interest groups; and
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he investigates the relationship between
multiculturalism and U.S. foreign policy.
The book has three major propositions.
First, ethnic groups play a larger role in
American foreign policymaking than is
widely recognized. Second, the negative
consequences of ethnic group involvement
today outweigh the benefits this activism at
&
times confers on America’s role in world
affairs. And third, the tensions of a pluralist
democracy are particularly apparent in the
making of foreign policy, where the self-
interested demands of a host of domestic &
actors raise an enduring problem of demo­
cratic citizenship — the need to reconcile &
general and particular interests. &
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Foreign Attachments
Also by Tony Smith
America V Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle
for Democracy in the Twentieth Century
Thinking like a Communist: State and Legitimacy in the
Soviet Union, China, and Cuba
The Pattern of Imperialism: The United States, Great Britain,
and the Late-Industrializing World since 1815
Foreign
Attachments
The Power of Ethnic Groups in the Making of
American Foreign Policy
Tony Smith
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England 2000
Copyright © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Tony, 1942—
Foreign attachments : the power of ethnic groups in the making of
American foreign policy / Tony Smith,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-674-00294-6 (alk. paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations—20th century7.
2. Minorities—United States—Political activity—History7—20th century7.
3. United States—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
F744 .S589 2000
327.73— dc21 00-027288
For the Luebbehusen Family
and
Jose David Ovalle
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Multiculturalism and U.S. Foreign Policy 19
2 Three Historical Stages of Ethnic Group Influence 47
3 Gaining Influence in Washington 85
4 E Pluribus Unum or Ex Plures Uno? 130
Notes 171
Index 187

Acknowledgments
The origins of this book lie in questions raised by students at Tufts
University in a class in the spring of 1995. Looking for information on
the role of ethnic groups in the making of U.S. foreign policy, we found
only a short list of readings, most of them focused on single groups.
The few works that were more general in scope were typically highly
contentious in their treatment of the subject, presenting skewed points
of view without adequate argument, much less consideration of alter­
native perspectives. Hence the inspiration for this book.
I was fortunate to be invited in 1997 to the Woodrow Wilson Inter­
national Center for Scholars housed at the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C., under the direction of Sam Wells and Rob Littwak.
While in Washington, I conducted interviews and read what was avail­
able in most congenial circumstances. Thereafter, I became the Whit­
ney Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations for the ac­
ademic year 1997-1998. Under the direction of Nicholas Rizopoulos,
assisted by Colin Wheeler, the Council held four seminars on papers
intended as drafts for this book.
Jeffrey Berry, David Fromkin, Jonathan Goldin, Samuel Hunting-
ton, Miles Kahler, Ronald Steel, and Ibrahim Sundiata offered close
readings of the text that prompted useful changes. From sessions at the
Council, I would like to thank James Chace, Robert Devigne, Rodolfo
O. de la Garza, Inge Hoffmann, Temma Kaplan, Peter Katzenstein,