Soviet Penetration and Growth in Syria During the Late 1950's

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

While the aftermath of World War II is often referred to as one of the primary creators of deep rooted turmoil in the Middle East region, the effects of the Cold War and the United States often over-zealous battle against communism is just as much a contributor if not more. The Arab world and the Middle East region were clearly going through quite an extraordinary period throughout World War II and its conclusion, primarily with the creation of most of the states we recognize today and struggling with the continuation of colonialism. These factors set the stage for the emergence of strong nationalist sentiments and Pan-Arab movements across the Middle East. Unfortunately, and much to the detriment of the region, the leaders of these young

Consequently, the Arab world was lacking a clear leader. Syria attempted to take this position, but didn’t success. Also, after the war, Egypt moved towards USA away from USSR, which means Egypt was no longer close to USSR. Instead, they improved the relationship with USA as the USSR did not support them much during the war. Trust was lost between USSR and Egypt.

Analyze the influence of the following on American-Soviet relations in the decade following the Second World War:

“a really, really tough case” that defies historical parallels. Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War refers to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in March 2011, as well as active foreign involvement. Most parties involved in the war in Syria receive various types of support from foreign countries and entities based outside Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria is widely described as a series of overlapping wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the U.S. and Russia as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The americans only started intervening with the middle east to stop communism, the U.S wanted to influence the middle eastern countries to be like the U.S later on the U.S wanted to get the oil the tons and tons of oil the middle east would be lots of help to the U.S .The U.S helped middle eastern countries grow more stronger by helping them which allowed the U.S to be allies with the Middle Eastern countries and receive cheaper oil .Now america's views and goals on the middle east have changed a lot because of the terrorist attacks that occur the U.S are focused on ending terrorism, the middle east has been changed from an area that helps the U.S with the oil and now their are tons of problems created by terrorism in the middle east. One

The French’s mandate over Syria after World Ware One had an irrevocable impact on the nations’s communal factions. The mandate lasted from 1920-1946 and they begun their rule with intentionally made sectarian divisions. They were made in order to prevent Arab nationalism and stifle national independence movements. The divisions were made my religious and national minority. Granting the minorities independent status locations where they make up the majority. For example, there was a large population of Alawites in the mountain range behind Latakia, the French declared them a separate state. The Druze were granted the right and ability to govern themselves in the city of Jabal, just south of Damascus. The one religious group that did

activity in that region, the halting of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, an invasion of

During the time of the Cold War, the Red Scare was increasing in the US. American citizens were very xenophobic and didn’t like Soviets. Meanwhile, the President of the US, Richard Nixon, was in investigation of Alger Hiss, a government official who was accused of being a soviet spy. As a member of HUAC in 1948-1950, Nixon took a leading role in the investigation of Alger Hiss, spy for a Soviet Union (Britannica 2). In addition, US was involved in the Yom Kippur War, a war between Egypt and Israel. Americans were on Israeli side, providing them with weapons and troops, which angered Arabs. The Arab leaders stopped the shipment of oil to the US, which led to US embargo of 1973. Furthermore, US was in a war with Vietnam, which is known as Vietnam War. The author stated, “Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey called for an end to the bombing of Northern Vietnam” (Britannica 4). US tried to find a peaceful way to end and solve the conflict with Vietnam without any casualties. After all, these wars led to a crisis in America, including shortage of gas and oil. As can be seen, during the this time period of OPEC embargo of 1973, US was involved in few conflicts with other nations, which resulted in the crisis of oil and gas in the

The Arabs took this opportunity to start an uprising. The fighting continued for twenty years until France, in 1936, agreed to let go of their political influence, but they would keep a military presence there and could benefit economically, which meant they controlled the oil. Four years later France fell to the Axis powers and consequently so did Syria. Since the, now Free French, troops needed support along with the British, they agreed to leave the region completely if they helped them win World War 2. After the Germans were defeated, the French, reluctantly, kept their word and left the region. This, however, did not subside the fighting; what was once a battle for freedom turned into an ideological battle between Shias and Sunnis. Eventually some stability was gained and a proper government was set up. In 1971 Hafez Al-Assad was elected president and the country went from being a democracy to a monarchy. He groomed his first son to take over the country once he died but his son passed away in a car accident before he did. Hafez’s second son, Bashar Al-Assad, took control of the country in 2000 and he has remained in power ever since. Prior to the Arab Spring, there were outbursts, but none significantly affected his regime. Once the Arab Spring began, however, the people of Syria, mainly Sunnis, revolted against Assad. At the same time, The United States pulled troops out of Iraq leaving them without any structure or

Syria is located on the middle east and is really close to Europe or the area where we call Eurasia. It shares border with Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. For the problem, it began in early 21st century, Syria have encountered a civil war which has affected everything in the country, from the very basic needs to the serious issues.

“The Soviet-Egyptian arms deal of September 1955 seemed doubly troubling because it signaled new departures both in Soviet assertiveness in the region and in an Arab state’s receptivity to Soviet aid.” (Hahn 151)

Post-Cold War Period Causes of Conflict The end of the Cold War meant that the ideological conflict of dominance between East (Soviet Union and Eastern Europe) and West (USA and Western Europe) was over. Contrary to the expectations that world would be much safer in the post-Cold War, United States and Soviet Union were faced with new security issues that they did not know how to deal with. The objective of this essay is to show that with all these changes that occurred with the end of the Cold War, causes of the conflict indeed altered from the classic ones.

Between the period of 1948 and 1973 there was quite a bit of animosity and conflict between the Arab world and Israeli’s. This was caused by a struggle for land in the state of what was known as Palestine but to many it is now known as Israel. This conflict in the Middle East caused many wars between Israel and its surrounding Arab states. At the same time both USA and the USSR were trying to spread their ideologies and get a foothold in the Middle East because of strategic position, they would have access to the Indian and Mediterranean Oceans through the Suez Canal. They would also gain a resource advantage of oil as the Middle East is rich in oil. The involvement of these Superpowers was not the initial cause of the conflict it did “add fuel to the fire”. However the USSR and USA did not engage in any of this conflict because they did not partake in any of the wars by sending no troops what so ever so it could be said that they had little if any involvement in the conflict happening in the Middle East.

the conflict in the middle east between 1948-1973 was not purely fuelled by the interest and concerns of the superpowers but rather of a series of conflictual incidents, aswell as the main wars that took place from the years from 1948-1967 such as the: 1948 War, The Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973. But although the conflict was not fuelled by the superpowers, the influence of the superpowers and the reach of the superpowers into the Middle East was evident in the years both prior and following 1978. But even despite the influence and interests of the superpowers between and including 1948-1967 being undeniably evident, the extent of this influence cannot be said to have “fuelled the conflict”.