How Did The Cold War Influence The Us Foreign Policy Of The Middle East

The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the

When the world famous liberal thinker Francis Fukuyama in his masterpiece declared that we were witnessing the end of the history, he was greeting the new political structure and also the new international environment, which is peaceful[1]. However, developments that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union showed us that the dissolution of the Soviets was unexpected. The international society was not ready for peace and Fukuyama’s optimistic assumptions were far from becoming real. Moreover, the international society currently started to realise that the tension and the potential of mass destructive war during the Cold War era had provided a

The role of the Middle East has been very crucial to the United States, especially after WWII. The U.S. had three strategic goals in the Middle East and consistently followed them throughout various events that unfolded in the region. First, with the emergence of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the U.S., policymakers began to recognize the importance of the Middle East as a strategic area in containing Soviet influence. This also coincides with the U.S. becoming increasingly wary of Arab nationalism and the threat it posed to U.S. influence. Secondly, the emergence of the new Israeli state in 1948 further deepened U.S. policy and involvement in the region while also creating friction between the U.S. and Arab states which were

After World War 2, the United States took over Britain’s job of overseeing the Middle East. The United States tried to avoid conflict while preventing the spread of communism. They successfully stopped the spread of communism, but couldn’t have done much worse trying to prevent conflict and stabilize the Middle East. The United States policy destabilized the Middle East, Iraq in particular, by overthrowing the Hussein regime at a poor time and deepening the anti-Western attitude in the Middle East.

“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This declaration, made by former President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, is part of the Truman Doctrine, and was the basis for U.S. involvement in Western Europe throughout the Cold War. Although the North Atlantic Treaty, and the resulting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was established during the Cold War “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,” NATO has persisted since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. This essay will seek to examine the U.S. decision to create and participate in NATO. It will begin by providing a history of NATO and the U.S. decision to participate in NATO before considering how this decision is both an instance of continuity and change in U.S. foreign policy since former President George Washington’s Farewell Address. The essay will conclude by considering the legacy of this decision and its impact on U.S. foreign policy. While this essay will consider the period of time leading up to the formation of NATO and will briefly touch on the present day, greatest consideration will be paid to the time period immediately preceding and following the formation of NATO in 1949.

For the United States, the Gulf region remains one of the most geo-strategically important locations in the world for diplomatic, intelligence cooperation, and business opportunities such as hydrocarbons and arms. This strategic cooperation has provided the region some stability, particularly with the rise of Iran and the Shi’a crescent and the chaotic outcome of the war in Iraq. The council members have also relied on the United State to fend off some of the domestic challenges to the existing regimes that are both internally and regionally rooted.

The Middle East is very important to the US. Many events have happened since our involvement with the Middle East such as the Cold War, the OPEC oil embargo, the Camp David Accords, the Persian Gulf War, and the 9/11 attacks. Over time, the US has went from focusing on containment to natural resources and then defense and safety in the Middle East and America.

I believe that the United States’ involvement in the Cold War had a significant influence on the debate as well as the Supreme Court decision of the Brown v. Board of Education case.

The 9/11 attacks would change President Bush’s foreign policy focus from building relationships with other great powers such as China and Russia to the terrorist countries and other radical fronts such as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. In the past the U.S. concentrated on containing and deterring encroachment on other countries. President Bush and his administration would take a preemptive approach to dealing with these factions. President Bush viewed these areas as a security threat because of their propensity to harbor and provide hiding for the extremist terrorist groups.

Referring to the time during the Cold War, poet Archibald MacLeish recalled, “American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were conducted under a kind of upside-down Russian veto: no man could be elected to public office unless he was on record as detesting the Russians, and no proposal could be enacted, from a peace plan at one end to a military budget at the other, unless it could be demonstrated that the Russians wouldn't like it” (Fariello). During the 1940s and 1950s, agitation over the perceived threat posed by Communists increased because of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. This fear was known as the Red Scare

There is no doubt that the Soviet leadership imposed repressive, and when challenged brutal dictatorships on Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Albania and Czechoslovakia. But it is equally clear that the Soviets were initially willing to accept governments friendly to them in these countries until the west began to make threatening moves both on their ideology and their security. During this post war period it was the United States with its atomic domination, not the Soviet Union which bares the biggest share for creating the cold war, and all that it implied for the rest of the world.

Following the events of World War II, the Middle East region of the world became a focal point for the United States. From natural resources, like oil, to world politics, this part of the world has been a hot-bed of activity since 1945. World Wars Impact The first main issue in the Middle East began as World War I came to a close.

What impact did the Cold War have on the Middle East? We see the cold war as a period of hostility, which ended in 1989 between the Soviet Union and the USA in which neither country fired shots at each other directly but engaged in proxy wars to propagate their opposing ideological views and expand their influence globally. The tentacles of the opposing sides spread globally and the Middle East was no exception and it is impossible to know what influence Oil had.

The economy and war in the Middle East attracted U.S. attention. For example, the Middle East is famous for their discovery of oil. The oil became a center of balanced power and helped increased technology in the U.S. (Del Priore, 27 Mar. 2013). The Middle East opened up a large economic opportunity for the U.S. to trade goods. The demand of oil in the Middle East is highly needed, which creates a concern for the Middle East in giving their oil to foreigners. In addition, Iran poses a problem to the U.S. regarding the use of nuclear weapons, hatred towards Israel, and is a state sponsor of terrorism (Del Priore, 27 Mar. 2013). Iran is capable of committing violent acts towards the people of Israel. Iran could get innocent people hurt if their hatred gets to point of the U.S. to take drastic actions. The U.S. wanted to get involved in the U.S. because of its economic opportunities, but the tensions between the Middle East and Israel still continues to pose a concern.

The United States has been involved in the affairs of the Middle East for decades and they’ve had various reasons for being there, whether it was to wage war or to prevent outside influence that would undermine their own influence in the region, it always seemed to revolve around one thing: oil. As we all know, oil is a very profitable resource and it’s a huge part of many nations’ economies and because this is the case many wars are fought over this black liquid. The U.S. is no different in that they did just about anything to maintain their access to Middle East oil. As a result, United States actions in the Middle East today has been formed through the decades long desire for their oil.