On November 10, 1975, the General Assembly of United Nations passed
Resolution 3379, which declared Zionism a form of racism. Afterward, a
tall man with long, graying hair, horned-rim glasses, and a bowtie stood
to speak. He pronounced his words with the rounded tones of a Harvard
academic, but his voice shook with outrage: "The United States rises to
declare, before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before
the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will
never acquiesce in this infamous act." This speech made Daniel Patrick
Moynihan, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a celebrity, but as
Gil Troy demonstrates in this compelling new book, it also marked the
rise of neo-conservatism in American politics--the start of a more
confrontational, national-interest-driven foreign policy that turned
away from Kissinger's detente-driven approach to the Soviet Union--which
was behind Resolution 3379.
Moynihan recognized the resolution for what it was: an attack on Israel
and a totalitarian assault against democracy, motivated by anti-Semitism
and anti-Americanism. While Washington distanced itself from Moynihan,
the public responded enthusiastically: American Jews rallied in support
of Israel. Civil rights leaders cheered. The speech cost Moynihan his
job--but soon won him a U.S. Senate seat. Troy examines the events
leading up to the resolution, vividly recounts Moynihan's speech, and
traces its impact in intellectual circles, policy making, international
relations, and electoral politics in the ensuing decades. The mid-1970s
represent a low-water mark of American self-confidence, as the country,
mired in an economic slump, struggled with the legacy of Watergate and
the humiliation of Vietnam. Moynihan's Moment captures a turning point,
when the rhetoric began to change and a more muscular foreign policy
began to find expression, a policy that continues to shape international
relations to this day.
