The Cold War, Truman & the Creation of the State of Israel
Eisenhower, The Suez Crisis & Arab Nationalism
Nixon, the Yom Kippur War & Kissinger Diplomacy
Carter & the Camp David Agreement
Reagan, the Middle East & the Intifada
Bush, the Gulf War & the Oslo Peace Accord
Bush, Terrorism & the Middle East, & the Road Map to Peace
Future United States Policy on Israel & Palestine
The 20th century illustrates a significant change in United States policy toward the Middle East over the past one hundred years. As the century began, the United States enjoyed a relatively benign image throughout the Arab world. In the formative decades of the century, the United States had little interest in the Middle East save for the actions of missionaries, philanthropic activities, educational, affording protection to American citizens and commercial interests there. Even so, the years prior to WWII demonstrate ambivalence and uneven application of policy toward the region. President Wilson’s principle of “self-determination” seemed to have been abandoned with respect to the Middle East. Through mandate or de facto control, England and France had already colonized areas in the Middle East thought significant to their respective interests.
Despite the benign impact of United States policy on the Middle East at the start of the century, the issue of Palestine was already emerging as one of significance. Interest in this province of the Ottoman Empire stemmed from the official indoctrination of the political doctrine of Zionism in 1897 at Basle, Switzerland (Neff 2003). The 204 delegates, Jews from fifteen countries, unanimously agreed that “Zionism aims at the creation of a home for the Jewish people in Palestine to be secured by public law,” (Neff 2003, 1). At the start of the century, Arabs owned 99% of the land and comprised 95% of the population in Palestine, (Neff 2003). Many Jew...