s opposed the accession to power of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt in the early 1950s, the Soviet Union was afforded the opportunity to become a prime economic supporter of the most powerful Arab country in the region, led by the most dynamic Arab leader.
The announcement of Soviet military aid to Egypt in 1955, coupled with the Egyptian nationalization of the Suez Canal at the same time, prompted the Anglo-French intervention in 1956, which was supported by Israel and seen by the rest of the world as the 1956 Suez War. The United States opposed this action and forced the British and French to withdraw from the Canal, and Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula. As a result of this, Egypt became closely associated with the Soviet Union. For the rest of the decade, United States policy sought to thwart the pan-Arab nationalist policy of Nasser, to protect the traditionalist regimes of the Persian Gulf, where the main United States interest was seen to lie. Thus, the United States kept its di
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