Walter Russell Mead on Christian Zionism, the ‘Israel Lobby’ Myth, and the Psychology of Antisemitism

About this episode

Walter Russell Mead discusses the historical roots of American support for Israel and the complexities of antisemitism.

Why do Americans support Israel? The standard answers—D.C. lobbying, shared democratic values, strategic benefits—all miss something. Walter Russell Mead, one of America's foremost foreign policy scholars, traces the real answer back to 17th-century Calvinist theology, and argues that Christian Zionists were advocating for a Jewish homeland long before most Jews were. Mead joins the show to make the case that the famous Israel Lobby thesis is actually historically incoherent. To explain where antisemitism comes from and why it keeps coming back, he offers a nuanced defense of American global engagement against the America First movement’s more isolationist impulses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Walter Russell Mead

Topics covered

• Christian Zionism
• Israel Lobby
• Antisemitism
• American foreign policy
• Calvinist theology
• Global engagement
• Isolationism

Keywords

• Christian Zionism
• Israel Lobby
• Antisemitism
• foreign policy
• Calvinist theology
• America First
• global engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Free Press

Books & works: America First movement

Places: Israel, America, 17th-century

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