The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews

Barnett (Empire of Humanity), a professor of international affairs and political science at George Washington University, looks back on how American Jewish identity, particularly its “tribal” and “cosmopolitan” strains, have affected the community’s views and actions on international matters. He defines foreign policy broadly, including such matters as American Jewish philanthropy and humanitarian work as well as intra-Jewish issues (e.g., relations with Israel). For example, he notes that for Louis Brandeis, the first prominent American Zionist, “Zionism was a catalyst for the creation of self-confident Jews whose communal identity would better all of humanity.” In contrast to this balancing of the particular and universal, Barnett shows—in his too-brief section on the Soviet Jewry movement—how American Jews’ focus shifted from being “cosmopolitans” (as in their involvement in the civil rights movement) to practitioners of “power politics.” Of course, Barnett devotes the most attention to Zionism and American Jews’ relationship to Israel, noting that many have become “half-hearted Zionists” embarrassed by Israeli policies, while their Israeli cousins tend toward tribal ethnonationalism. Barnett’s writing style can be academically long-winded, but this is an important book that shows how American Jews struggle with and express their identities on a global scale. Photos & illus. (Apr.)