The workings behind the closed doors and the veil of wonky jargon of Washington, DC, could be considered a mystery to those outside the Beltway, but the most important U.S. policy decisions towards the Middle East are often made within the confines of the District. With issues like the Iranian nuclear agreement and the Islamic State (ISIS) taking front-and-center in political debate worldwide, there is no doubt that what happens in Washington affects the Middle East in a large scale.
Various Middle East-centric lobbying groups, think tanks, and non-profit organizations populate the city, vying for influence in American government. Groups of organizations, like the “Israel Lobby” and the “Arab Lobby,” jockey to sway U.S. policy with fact sheets, policy briefs, one-on-one meetings, seminars, and conference calls.
The Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), for example, is a non-profit organization that primarily works with Congress and other government entities to provide information on Israeli issues.
“Issues can range from the Gaza war in Israel to jihad, the Iran deal, anti-Semitism on college campus, ISIS, as well as minority groups in the Middle East,” said Jennifer Dekel, director of communications and research at EMET. “Depending on the topic and issue, we provide factual analysis and cutting-edge research to Congressional staffers so that their bosses can make informed decisions.”
While many of these groups are non-partisan and do not affiliate with any particular political party, they do look at Middle East affairs in a specific light and take stances on certain issues.
“EMET is unabashedly pro-Israel, pro-west, and pro-America,” Dekel said. “We present staffers with facts. We’re not telling them what to do, but we do our own analysis.”
The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) is another non-profit that focuses on backing U.S. policy and aiding initiatives that promote and help establish democracy in 19 countries, most notably in Iran and Turkey.
“We engage with the White House, the National Security Council and the State Department, and we also engage with many offices within State Department, like the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,” said Stephen McInerney, the executive director for POMED. “We meet with US officials if we have policy recommendations. Recently, we met with Secretary of State John Kerry and his staff before they went to Egypt.”
Policy recommendations to the U.S. government are common for these groups, but not all claim to be motivated by one specific dogma. The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) is a small organization that mainly pushes for a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We’re not ideological. We’re trying to find pragmatic solutions to the Middle East,” said Mitchell Plitnick, Program Director for FMEP. “We offered the White House and Congress with analysis and the best course of action towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, hopefully and possibly influencing policy.”
While many of these non-profits may make recommendations within their analysis and information presentations to lawmakers, they are restricted in their ability to actually lobby congressmen. Registered 501c(3)s, or non-profit organizations, are exempt from paying taxes, but cannot endorse a specific political candidates and are prohibited from devoting a “substantial part” of their budget to lobbying efforts.
A large chunk of these budgets – chiefly made up by donations – goes to hosting events and bringing in speakers for Congressional staffers and the general public.
“What really what makes [EMET] standout, aside from our meetings with Congress and being non-partisan, is our seminars. They’re very unique, extremely helpful, and we feature prominent experts and high level speakers,” said Dekel.
Some groups also take action outside of Washington, and have a strong network of activists and leaders within the Middle East to whom they lend support and keep in contact with.
“[POMED] staff often travel to the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, and we have a network of pro-democracy actors in various countries. We are seen as an ally in Washington for democratic change, and we are informed by views on the ground,” said McInerney. “Many groups in these countries are very much being targeted by the government, and they are not able to express their opinions and their work is very restricted.”
“I think the biggest role that [FMEP] plays is working with both the government and NGOs on the ground, to go back and forth between the realm of government and Israel and Palestine,” said Plitnick. “We have the flexibility to work with large variety of people, and this allows us to bring different efforts together.”
While the governments of Middle East countries certainly have clout in DC think tanks – largely through monetary influence – many are still committed to the representation of people over any regime or bureaucracy.
“We take the interest of the people and citizenry rather than the government,” said McInerney. “I think just the fact that we maintain a consistent focus on democratic change and do both research and advocacy on behalf of that in the MENA region makes us unique.”