Today, there are still residual effects of this cold war attitude, especially in the Republican party. In 1997 dozens of bills were introduced seeking to impose sanctions on Russia. Congress has consistently opposed Russian efforts of nuclear cooperation with Iran. A fourth element influencing Congress, and perhaps the most important, is the phenomenon of domestic politics. This leads to a phenomenon I term, ethnic politics.
Critics argue that ethnic politics have driven U.S. policy toward both Azerbaijan and Iran.
They say the strong pro-Israeli and Armenian lobbies have formulated U.S. policy. While these groups wield significant influence in Congress, is overly simplistic and inaccurate to say that they determine U.S. policy. The U.S. favors Armenia over Azerbaijan for several reasons, including the fact that Armenia is generally seen as being more democratic than Azerbaijan. The U.S. opposes Iran for some legitimate reasons as Iran often seeks to undermine U.S. policies. So while the domestic lobbies have significant influence, they still need to have substance behind their arguments.