Foreign policy interest groups, which are domestic advocacy organizations seeking to directly or indirectly influence the government's foreign policy, are a key player in U.S. foreign policy.
According to U.S. scholar John Dietrich, these interest groups have mobilized to represent a diverse array of business, labor, ethnic, human rights, environmental, and other organizations. In order to build and maintain their influence, they use tactics, such as framing the issue and shaping the terms of debate; offering information and analysis to elected representatives (who may not have the time to research the issue himself or herself); and monitoring the policy process and reacting to it through disseminating supplementary information, letter-writing campaigns, calling for additional hearings or legislation, and supporting or opposing candidates during elections.
Foreign policy interest groups often overlap with so-called "ethnic" interest groups, as they try to influence the foreign policy and, to a lesser extent, the domestic policy of the United States for the benefit of the foreign "ethnic kin" or homeland with whom respective ethnic groups identify. Though ethnic interest groups have existed for many decades, they have become a particularly influential phenomenon since the end of the Cold War.
According to political scientist Thomas Ambrosio, this is a result of growing acceptance that ethnic identity groups have the right to mobilize politically for the purpose of influencing U.S. policies at home and abroad. Prominent examples of these organizations include the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Cuban American National Foundation, the Armenian Assembly of America, the U.S.-India Political Action Committee, and the National Iranian American Council.
the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a prominent foreign policy interest group