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| Volume XII, Summer 2005, Number 2 |
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| EXCERPT: The Influence of the Christian Right in U.S. Middle East Policy |
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| Stephen Zunes |
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Stephen Zunes is professor of politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. He serves as Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project and is the author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage Press, 2003). Segments of this article originally appeared as a foreign-policy report for Foreign Policy in Focus in June 2004.
Recent years have seen the
emergence of a politicized and
right-wing Protestant fundamentalism as a major factor behind U.S. support for the policies of the rightist Likud government in Israel. Indeed, given that a willingness by the U.S. government to pressure Israel to make the necessary compromises is crucial if there is to be a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, there may be no greater threat to the revived peace process than the influence of the American Christian Right. To understand this influence, it is important to recognize that the rise of the religious right as a political force in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon. It emerged as part of a calculated strategy by leading conservatives in the Republican party who -- while not fundamentalist Christians themselves -- recognized the need to enlist the support of this key segment of the American population in order to come to power.
Traditionally, American fundamentalist Protestants were not particularly active in national politics, long seen as worldly and corrupt. This changed in the late 1970s as part of a calculated effort by conservative Republican operatives who recognized that, as long as the Republican party was primarily identified with militaristic foreign policies and economic policies that favored the wealthy, it would remain a minority party. Over the previous five decades, the Republicans had won only four out of the twelve presidential elections and controlled Congress for only two of its 24 sessions.
By mobilizing rightist religious leaders and adopting conservative positions on a number of such highly charged social issues as women's rights, abortion, sex education and homosexuality, they were able to bring into their party millions of fundamentalist Christians who -- as a result of their lower-than-average incomes -- were not otherwise inclined to vote Republican. Through such organizations as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, they promoted a right-wing political agenda in radio and television broadcasts as well as from the pulpit. Since that time, Republicans have won five out of seven presidential races, and have controlled the Senate for eight out of thirteen sessions, and have controlled the House of Representatives for the past six. |
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