U.N. divided over gay rights declaration

[Napoleon Ier]

It must be said that my wildly fluctuating opinions on this matter are more informed by ideological leanings than by the serious in-depth on-the-ground analysis literature, if you know of any of good material, even if it's a (preferably not too chunky, however oxymoronic that may sound) decent book, I'd be delighted if you could point me in the right general direction.

[got tonkaed]

It must be said that my wildly fluctuating opinions on this matter are more informed by ideological leanings than by the serious in-depth on-the-ground analysis literature, if you know of any of good material, even if it's a (preferably not too chunky, however oxymoronic that may sound) decent book, I'd be delighted if you could point me in the right general direction.

the book that more or less has informed my background knowledge is The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John. J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Watt. Essentially it breaks down into two different sections and fits my primary interest in the topic (how Israel relates in a greater framework of regional policy and the US general foreign policy) and is relatively recent (within the last few years). Pretty remarkable book about how perfectly legitmate interests can greatly influence how political discourse is shaped.

[Napoleon Ier]

Yeah, I'll try to get around to it. There's a large Israeli-Arab conflict shaped lacuna in my geopolitical knowledge I'm afraid, and it needs filling in. Though, and as a taster, could you please explain why any politician would possibly care about Israel in terms of lobbies and campaign strategy when the Jewish vote invariably goes Democrat?

[got tonkaed]

Essentially the lobby is a little more diverse than we tend to believe and isnt necessarily of one mind. Taken as a whole it certainly may at times tend to vote democrat in terms of presidential elections, but your talking about one facet and particular regions of the country. Excluding the few pro-peace Israeli groups, the vast majority of the groups are more concerned with bolstering US relations and making sure that the security of the state is the primary objective. This of course endears many more hawkish indivdiuals to support the lobby, as it meshes will with their own viewpoint regarding policy in the region. Of course these indivduals come from both left and right (it isnt as if all hawks are right wing of course) which adds a bit of strength to the lobby. Also i suppose its important to at least sidebar (and only sidebar for now) that as long as the Christian right remains relevant there is enough of an overlap with groups of Christians who believe Israel must remain a Jewish state for a variety of reasons. So its not actually so clearly cut as one might think, especially if you saw demographics of presidential elections.

Part of the real key is that discourse is almost entirely favorable to Israel though slowly this is perhaps changing slightly, though not in a way that really changes things in practical terms. Its a fairly common quip in the book that there is far more criticism of Israel in Israel than there is in America. The lobby currently conducts business in a climate that with so many overlapping groups, who primarly are on the same page regarding a few issues and have strong influence, that most speech against Israel or even counter to the general assumptions regarding Israel is noted. Considering these groups do have a lot of clout, especially in terms of Congress it becomes very dangerous to avoid toeing the line so to speak. There just isnt the type of resources to go and make that lobby angry as they have pretty sizeable drawing power in terms of funds. Its something that is also highlighted quite a bit in teh first half of the book, which discusses some of the elements of the lobby as a whole.