In The Transparent Cabal, Stephen J. Sniegoski, Ph.D., provides the key to understanding "neoconservatism," its meaning, and its influence as regards U.S. Middle East policy. Sniegoski's book is also an essential guide - both for concerned Americans and for people everywhere - to appreciating the concerns, aims, and pressure that U.S. policymakers face, as presented by a faction of neoconservatives in key foreign-policy circles. Surveying the neoconservatives' statements, writings, and policy papers, alongside that of Israeli defense strategists from the far-right Likud party in Israel, Sniegoski illuminates, in 19 compact, persuasive chapters, the strategic roots and aims of the neoconservative Middle East policy. His conclusion is compelling and provocative. Neoconservative policy for the Middle East, Sniegoski maintains, is premised upon the perceived need to defend Israel from its potential enemies. And influential neoconservatives see American national interest in just those terms. Whether this is right or wrong as U.S. policy, Sniegoski admits, is for the American people to answer. But first they have to know what the question is. If U.S. Middle East policy is not about the promotion of democracy or the defense of American interests, but rather about something else, it must be discussed and debated among those called upon to give blood and treasure in its pursuit. The Transparent Cabal is the hopeful beginning of that discussion and debate.