Assignment 1: The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy
Ebony Reid
Strayer University
POL 300: Contemporary Internation Problems
Prof Jane El-Yacoubi
August 18, 2019
Introduction
The U.S. presidents came up with doctrines that shaped the American foreign policies during their tenure. One of the most successful doctrines was the one used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He promised economic or military aid to the Middle Eastern countries that were willing to aid in resisting the aggression of Communism. President Eisenhower aimed at checking the increased influence of the Soviet in the Middle East and was successful at doing so during his tenure between 1953 and 1961 (1). Just like his predecessor, Truman, Eisenhower’s doctrine focused on the Middle East and the European Union, although the introduction of the military assistance tends to separate him with Truman.
Summary of a situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts
One of the situations that required the diplomatic efforts of the U.S. during President Eisenhower time in the office was the Suez situation. In the Suez case, the former Egyptian President, Nasser, had nationalized the Suez resulting in the declaration of the war against Egypt by Israel, G. Britain, and France. However, the United States, led by Eisenhower, decided to back Egypt. According to President Eisenhower, the Suez conflict would lead to a power vacuum in the Middle East following prestige loss by the other countries (2). At the time, America used the anti-Western nationalism of Nasser as well as his close association with the communists as a way of justifying its withdrawal of support in the Aswan Dam construction.
Eisenhower Doctrine
Following the seizing of the Suez Canal by Nasser in 1956, it was as if the Middle East would be the basis for the Third World War. To respond to the activities, Eisenhower requested for combined response by the Executive and the Congress in dealing with the increasing problem posed by international Communism in the Middle East region (2). He, therefore, requested the authorization to start new programs of military and economic cooperation with friendly countries. He also asked for permission to send the U.S. troops in a mission to protect and secure the political independence and territorial integrity of such countries (3). Based on his doctrine, any nation from the Middle East that felt endangered by armed hostility from another nation had the right to request and acquire both military and economic assistance from the United States. Eisenhower viewed the Soviet Union as the most likely aggressor in the Middle East and promised to commit the U.S. forces to protect and secure the political independence of the nations in this region (1).
Effects of the democratic effort
Eisenhower was able to bring a new look of the U.S. foreign policy as he emphasized the need to deal with the communism spread. He greatly influenced by his staunch anti-communist Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles in how he set the foreign policies (4). According to Dulles, all nations were either part of the Soviet communist bloc or the Free World and not in the middle. Both Dulles and Eisenhower believed that political efforts alone were not enough in stopping the expansion of the Soviet, which forced them to come up with the policy referred to as Massive Retaliation (2). The latter policy entailed a scenario where the U.S. was prepared to employ atomic weapons in case any of its allies were under attack. In addition to the communist expansion in the Middle East region, Eisenhower also knew that that the region had a large percentage of oil reserve which the U.S., as well as the allies, needed (4).
In the Suez Crisis, Eisenhower objected to the U.S. Allies’ actions which ended up establishing the U.S. as the lone military power when it came to the Middle East a position that meant that that the oil security of the U.S. was at a bigger risk in case the Soviet Union won in the imposition of its political will in the area. Eisenhower Doctrine was widely embraced, especially with the intervention of the U.S. military in the Middle East (1). However, both Syria and Egypt who were supported by the Soviet Union objected to the doctrine while most of the Arab nations were skeptical of the doctrine as they feared the Israeli Zionist imperialism more than the Soviet Communism (3). Even though some newspapers in the United States objected to the doctrine claiming that there was a huge cost involved and that the involvement of America was vague, there was overwhelming support from Congress. However, the Eisenhower Doctrine was unable to contain Communism, although the future foreign policies of the like of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan all embodied similar doctrines (3).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Eisenhower doctrine was able to consolidate the containment policy although some critics have claimed that the administration went too far. However, his doctrine and policies of ratcheting up the nuclear arms race played a key role in lessening the chances of US-Soviet conflict, thus preventing the military budget from going out of control. Furthermore, his spending in defense was able to bring some sanity in the military-industrial complex. Eisenhower ability to see America in more than military terms by enhancing the essential relationship between other domestic programs such as national security and education places him as a great President when it comes to foreign policy. However, one of the key disadvantages of Eisenhower doctrine was that it failed to diffuse the Cold War despite its increased efforts. However, the Cold War was more threatening by the time Eisenhower vacated the presidency compared to when he was coming to the office eight years before.
Sources
1. Hahn, P. L. (2011). Securing the Middle East: The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 36(1), 38-47.
2. Takeyh, R. (2010). The origins of the Eisenhower Doctrine: the US, Britain, and Nasser's Egypt, 1953-57. Springer.
3. Watson, R. P., Gleek, C., &Grillo, M. (Eds.). (2013). Presidential Doctrines: National Security from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush. Nova Publishers.
4. Roskin, M. G., & Berry, N. O. (2004). IR: the new world of international relations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.