Stephen M. Walt

August 2007

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

Book

By John J. Mearsheimer, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

Mearsheimer and Walt provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America’s posture throughout the Middle East...and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America’s national interest nor Israel’s long-term interest.

September 2005

Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy

Book

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"The greatest value of 'Taming American Power,' ... is that it places its readers in the minds of the leaders and citizens of other states, including the country's rivals...."

—ANATOL LIEVEN,  New York Times Sunday Book Review

2002

"Keeping the World "Off-Balance": Self-Restraint and U.S. Foreign Policy"

Book Chapter

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"...the United States still has an interest in retaining the good wishes of most other countries, if only because its ability to accomplish positive ends will decline if other states are resentful or fearful...."

September 2012

"Theory and Policy in International Relations: Some Personal Reflections"

Journal Article, Yale Journal of International Affairs, issue 2, volume 7

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"It has been nearly thirty years since I received my PhD. At that time, I was convinced that systematic scholarly research could uncover and verify timeless truths about international politics and foreign policy, and that once those discoveries had been made, a grateful policy community would quickly absorb them and adopt the right prescriptions. With the passage of time, I've gained both a greater respect for the limits of what social science can accomplish and a greater appreciation for the imperviousness of the policy community to reasoned discourse, especially in the United States. Even if scholars were able to produce more convincing analyses—itself a debatable proposition—overcoming the entrenched interests that shape what policy makers choose to do is not easy."

AP Photo

January-March 2009

"Is It Love or The Lobby? Explaining America's Special Relationship with Israel"

Journal Article, Security Studies, issue 1, volume 18

By John J. Mearsheimer, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"In The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, we argued that the "special relationship" between the United States and Israel is due largely to the influence of a domestic interest group—comprised of Jews as well as non-Jews—and that this unusual situation is harmful to both the United States and Israel....[P]ublic opinion in the United States does not explain why the United States gives Israel such extensive and nearly unconditional backing. Although most Americans have a favorable image of Israel, surveys show that they also favor a more even-handed Middle East policy and a more normal relationship with Israel. Thus, the special relationship is due primarily to the lobby's influence, and not to the American people's enduring identification with the Jewish state."

AP Photo

January 2009

"Alliances in a Unipolar World"

Journal Article, World Politics, International Relations Theory and the Consequences of Unipolarity, issue 1, volume 61

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

Unipolarity is a novel condition in world politics, and its effects on international alliances have yet to receive sustained theoretical attention.  Tracing its impact requires a careful distinction between the purely structural features common to any unipolar system and the unique characteristics of the current unipole (the United States) or the policies undertaken by particular U.S. leaders (such as George W. Bush).  In general, the unipole will enjoy greater freedom of action and be less dependent on allied support, enabling it to rely more readily on ad hoc "coalitions of the willing."

Fall/Winter 2007

"Offshore Balancing or International Institutions? The Way Forward for U.S. Foreign Policy"

Journal Article, Brown Journal of World Affairs, issue 1, volume XIV

By G. John Ikenberry and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

G. John Ikenberry, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, participated in a debate at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University on May 8, 2007. Christopher Lydon hosted the debate.

Fall 2006

"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"

Journal Article, Middle East Policy, issue 3, volume XIII

By John J. Mearsheimer, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"Why has the United States adopted policies that jeopardized its
own security in order to advance the interests of another state?"

September / October 2005

"Taming American Power"

Journal Article, Foreign Affairs, issue 5, volume 84

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

This article is adapted from Stephen M. Walt's book, Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy.

February / March 2005

"In the National Interest: A New Grand Strategy for American Foreign Policy"

Journal Article, Boston Review, issue 1, volume 30

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"...how can the United States maximize the benefits that primacy brings and minimize the resistance that its power sometimes provokes?"