Foreign policy interest group

Foreign policy interest groups are groups of people who come together to influence how their country interacts with other countries.

Think about playing with your toys. You have your own toys that you like and you have friends with their own toys that they like. Sometimes you might want to play with your friend's toys, but you have to ask them nicely and do something they like in order to borrow their toy.

Countries are kind of like that too. They each have their own toys (resources, like oil, money, and land) that they don't want to share with other countries. But sometimes, countries need things that they don't have, like oil or money. And sometimes, countries want to make new friends or avoid making enemies.

Foreign policy interest groups are like adults who try to help the country make the best decisions about who to play with and how to share their toys. These groups might care about things like human rights, trade relationships, national security, or environmental issues. For example, a group might want the country to have more trade with a certain country because they have a lot of resources the first country needs. Or, a group might want the country to be nicer to another country because they don't like how that country treats its people.

These interest groups try to influence the government by sending letters or emails, giving speeches, running ads, or even meeting with politicians. Their goal is to make the government think about their ideas and try to make the best decisions about how to play with other countries.