US FOREIGN POLICY AND THE MIDDLE EAST

4 Periods of US FP towards the ME 1)The Ottoman Empire collapsed in the wake of the defeat it suffered during the WWI. The US consequently intervened to limit the imperialist ambitions of both the French and British. 2) In the aftermath of the WWII, America was increasingly drawn into the ME for two reasons : 1) Replace the rapidly declining power of the British Emp 2) Counter the military and ideological influence of the SU. 3) The end of the CW has seen American foreign policy dominated by the ME, especially since the 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. 4) Post-Iraq, " zoom-out" from the ME ?

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, US FP AND THE ME Realism stresses the instability of the international system with states maximizing their power in competition with each other. This helps scholars understand the ME as dominated by interstate war and conflict. Marxism perceives the international system as structured by hierarchy not anarchy. US FP in the region is designed to defend its economic and political dominance and access to oil. Constructivism stress the role that ideas and norms play in fp making. US interaction with the ME is thus structured by its own self-image and what policy makers see as the "backwardness" of Middle Eastern societies.

THE US, THE COLD WAR, AND THE ME-1 The CW acted as the dominant issue shaping the US relations with the ME. However, seeing the region simply as an arena for a global struggle had profound unintended consequences. The CW meant that ideologies originating from within the region, Islamic radicalism and Arab nationalism, were either seen as tools of Soviet influence of weapons with which to fight Soviet power. In 1947, as the CW took hold, President Truman announced his doctrine to meet the challenge of Soviet expansionism in the region.

THE US, THE COLD WAR, AND THE ME-2 The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957 went further promising direct military support to any state facing communist aggression. This fueled growing Arab nationalist resentment towards the US. President Nixon faced the tension between the regional Arab-Israeli conflict and the CW, when the Soviet-American rivalry in the ME brought the world to the brink of a nuclear confrontation. President Carter's support of anti-Soviet forces fighting in Afghanistan inadvertently lent American financial and military aid to Islamic radicals who went on to strike at the USA itself on 9/11.

THE US and ISRAEL – 1 The US' supportive relationship with Israel is most often cited as a cause of Arab and more generally Muslim anger towards American foreign policy. Constructivist explanations of this relationship focus on empathy generated by the horrors of the Holocaust, the pioneering spirit of Israeli state builders, its democracy, and an affinity between US Christianity and Jews returning to the Holy land. As the CW escalated President Eisenhower became increasingly aware of the damage America's relations with Israel were causing in the Arab Middle East and attempted to constrain Israeli foreign policy in the Suez crisis of 1956.

THE US and ISRAEL – 2 During the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 President Johnson, on the other hand, saw the victory of America's ally Israel over Arab states supported by the Soviet Union as beneficial to USPower. President Nixon's extended support for Israel in the 1973 war resulted in the Arab oil embargo that quadrupled the world price of oil. It took the end of the CW to see a major breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations with the Oslo agreements of 1993 that delivered limited self-rule to the Palestinians. US policy remains focused on maintaining Israel's military superiority in the hope that this will give them the confidence to negotiate a substantive peace deal with both the Palestinians and Syria.

By keeping Israel too strong to be defeated with Soviet arms, they [President Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger] aimed to force the Arabs to accept a settlement close to Israel’s terms; at the same time, they positioned the US as the only power which could theoretically influence Israel to accept a settlement, thereby seeking to marginalize the Soviets from Middle East diplomacy. (Hinnebusch,2002,p.32).

The US and OIL US support of Israel has often been in conflict with its policy of obtaining oil from the Gulf at the lowest possible cost. As the American economy's dependence upon oil increased after 1945, US government policy became concerned with stability of the main oil-producing states in the region. In 1953 the US supported a coup in Iran aimed at stopping the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. In the aftermath of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the USA put together a multinational coalition to liberate Kuwait and stop Saddam Hussein dominating oil supplies from the region. The US has repeatedly intervened in the Middle East to secure its economic advantage but its policy cannot be reduced to a focus solely on oil.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN US FP TOWARDS THE ME ? In the wake of 9/11 the Bush doctrine committed the US to fighting a global war against terror, stopping the spread of WMD in combination with muscular promotion of democratization across the ME. The US invasion of Iraq resulted in the collapse of the state, a violent civil war, and tens of thousands of deaths. It will certainly be viewed as a major defeat of the US. The Obama Doctrine ???

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the US and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

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