September 8, 2000

'Foreign Attachments: The Power of Ethnic Groups in the Making of American Foreign Policy'

By NINA C. AYOUB

There aren't many South Asians in South Dakota. But when Tim Johnson defeated Larry Pressler in a 1996 Senate race, money from Pakistani-Americans was a big help.

Mr. Pressler, a Republican incumbent known for his support of India, became a target of up-and-comers in the ethnic-lobby sweepstakes. No need for a Little Havana-style enclave of Pakistanis in Sioux Falls; the money made the journey.

Ethnic lobbies, while not new in American politics, have grown in influence since the