FOREIGN POLICY: MIDDLE EAST (4)
1. Turkey/Greece (G 428)--The beginning
of the Cold War, 1946-1947
A.
The
Soviet Union was using its control of Eastern Europe to install Communist
governments; these nations would be Soviet allies against the West.
B.
Truman
perceived that one of the greatest threats would be the fall of Greece and
Turkey to Communism.
C.
He
countered this threat by giving 400 million dollars in aid to Turkey and Greece, in an effort to
demonstrate the United State’s commitment to help these nations.
D.
In
1949 the United Sates formed a coalition of nations to stop possible future
Soviet aggression; United Nations (UN) - consists of 159 member countries
representing 98 percent of the world's population.
2. Israel-- 1948: Formal
Recognition. (G 432, 438, 445-448)
A.
U.S.
had to restrain Russian expansion into oil resources such as Iran, Iraq, Kuwait
and Saudi Arabia. Also, Israel (former Palestine) was in constant friction with
neighboring nations.
B.
War
in the Middle East would result in a cut in the oil supply so President Carter
called for Israel and Egypt to negotiate an end to their wars. Representatives
of the three nations met at Camp David.
C.
President
Truman granted the formal recognition to the state of Israel. The recognition took place hours after the
word on the new nation had been announced.
At the end of the cold war, the Soviet Union’s states sought the same
legitimacy to the U.S. to form new relations on different terms.
D.
In
the resulting compromise Egypt recognized Israel as a nation and Israel
withdrew from territory captured in 1967.
E.
The
United States became involved in the peacekeeping force in Lebanon when a fight
broke out between the PLO and the Christian (Maronite) Phalange, with Israel and
Syrian intervention.
F.
Latest
News: As of Tuesday October
23, 2001. The Bush
administration persisted in pressuring Israel Tuesday to withdraw its forces
from Palestinian areas of the West Bank. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011023/us/us_mideast_2.html
1970’s: International affairs.
3. Camp David (G 432)
A.
War
in the Middle East would result in a cut in the oil supply so President
Carter called for Israel and Egypt to negotiate an end to their wars.
Representatives of the three nations met at Camp David.
4. OPEC (G 432)
A.
In 1960, enraged by unilateral cuts in
oil prices by the seven big oil companies, the governments of the major
oil-exporting countries formed the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.
B.
OPEC's
goal was to try to prevent further cuts in the price that the member
countries—Venezuela and four countries around the Persian Gulf—received for
oil.
C.
Iraq
accused Kuwait of producing more oil than allowed under rules set by OPEC,
thereby depressing the price of oil, Iraq's main export.
5. Iranian hostage crisis (G 434, 435, 448)
A.
In January 1979 the followers of Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, a conservative Muslim clergyman, forced Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlavi, who had ruled Iran for 37 years, to flee abroad.
B.
In November 1979, militant Iranians,
who supported the ayatollah and opposed Western influences, especially the
United States, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran
(Teheran), the capital of Iran, taking 66 Americans hostage.
C.
Thirteen were soon released, but for
the release of the other 53, Iran demanded a U.S. apology for acts committed in
support of the shah, his return to face trial (unimportant after his death in
July 1980), and return of the billions of dollars that he was said to have hoarded
abroad.
D. Negotiations did not secure their release, nor did a U.S.
commando raid the following April.
A.
Radical
students, backed by the government, seized more than fifty American hostages at
the U.S. embassy in late 1979 and held them for 444 days, creating a major
crisis in U.S.- Iran
relations that has yet to heal
B.
Iran has become a major obsession for U.S. policymakers, resulting in
stringent economic sanctions and other measures.
C.
The
strident anti-Americanism of Iran’s Islamic regime is a direct
consequence of past U.S. interference in Iranian internal affairs.
D.
Ironically,
U.S. policy toward Iran has hardened as the regime has become
increasingly moderate.
E.
Latest
News: As of Tuesday October 23, 2001. Turkey
expects to start receiving natural gas through a new pipeline from Iran
by mid-December. The United States, a close ally of Turkey, has strongly
opposed the gas deal with Iran. http://latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-turkey-iran-pipeline1022oct22.story. The CIA's covert role in reinstalling
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as Shah of Iran in 1953 was made public two years
ago. http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-attacks-secret-war-glance1022oct22.story
7. Iran-Contra
(G 272, 291, 308, 328)
A.
The scandal
started when, with the encouragement of National Security Advisor Robert C.
McFarlane, Reagan signed a secret initiative that authorized the sale of U.S.
arms to Iran in exchange for the release of hostages held by pro-Iranian
terrorists.
B.
The
initiative was opposed by Reagan’s top cabinet officials, Defense Secretary
Casper Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz.
C.
They
feared that it would give cause to other terrorists feeling that they too would
get compensated by the United States.
D.
The
initiative went against the government’s public policy of not trading with Iran
or Iraq.
1990’s: Approval of congress
9. Iraq
(G 438, 449)
A.
Persian Gulf War- In 1990 Iraq
revived a long-standing territorial dispute with Kuwait, its ally during the
war with Iran, claiming that overproduction of petroleum by Kuwait was injuring
Iraq's economy by depressing the price of crude oil.
B.
When Iraq failed to comply (withdraw),
a coalition led by the United States began intensive aerial bombardment of
military and infrastructural targets in Iraq and Kuwait in January 1991.
C.
In June 1993 the United States
launched a widely criticized cruise missile attack against Iraq in retaliation
for a reported assassination plot against former U.S. president George Bush.
D.
Hussein's interference with UN weapons
inspectors nearly brought Iraq into another military crisis in early 1998.
E.
Through 2001, Iraq continued to
challenge the patrols, and British and U.S. planes struck Iraqi missile launch
sites and other targets.
F. Latest News: As of Tuesday
October 23, 2001. Iraqi newspapers and
officials denied any link to the release of killer anthrax bacteria in the
United States but said U.N. inspectors would not be allowed back to investigate
Baghdad's weapons programs. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-attack-anthrax-iraq.html?searchpv=reuters
10. Kuwait (G
299, 436)
A.
Kuwait
was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 1990. Following several weeks of aerial
bombardment, a US-led UN coalition began a ground assault on February 23, 1991
that completely liberated Kuwait in four days.
B.
Kuwait
has spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during
1990-91.
C.
Kuwait's
economy is small, relatively open with proved crude oil reserves of about
94 billion barrels - 10% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half
of GDP, 90% of export revenues, and 75% of government income.
D.
Latest
News: As of Tuesday October 23, 2001. Half the members of Kuwait's 50-strong elected parliament urged the
United States to end its military campaign against Afghanistan. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-attack-kuwait.html?searchpv=reuters