Allen Dulles's first triumph came in 1953 in Iran. In the view of the Dulles brothers, Premier Mohammed Mossadegh had drawn too close to the Tudeh, Iran's Communist party, and would have to be overthrown before he made a deal with the Russians. Mossadegh had already nationalized Iran's oil fields, to the dismay of the British, who previously had enjoyed a monopoly on Iranian oil production." 1
The first director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Allen Dulles, regime change, Iranian oil, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union, and British commercial interests: this is the complexity of Cold War-era politics in the United States and the Middle East.
Fig. 1 - Two Christians and a Druze, Lebanon, by Pascal Sebah, 1873.
US and Middle East: History
US relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) grew after the First World War (1914-1919). At this time, the US engagement in the Middle East was primarily focused on supporting American business interests, especially oil and diplomacy.
As the US became a superpower after the Second World War (1939-1945), its engagement in the Middle East significantly increased. Beyond oil, the US also found strategic value in supporting certain countries like Israel. After all, the Middle East is a geographic region that links Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia.
Middle East: Map
Fig. 2 - Middle East map, 1992, by the CIA, no known copyright restrictions.
Middle East: Definition
The term "Middle East" came from 19th-century Europe rather than the inhabitants of this region themselves.
The Middle East is a geographic region that includes Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, and Israel.
Sometimes, the Middle East includes the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan) and Turkey. Other times, the Middle East is grouped with North Africa (MENA) for religious, cultural, and geographic reasons, including Egypt and Libya.
Colonialism and Decolonization
Before the middle of the 20th century, different colonial powers controlled the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire ruled over such present-day countries as Saudi Arabia and Syria. After this empire dissolved, some countries found independence, whereas others were under European mandates. Two agreements are essential in this context because they redefined the borders in the region:
- Treaty of Sèvres (1920)
- Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
European postwar mandates meant that Britain controlled Palestine until 1948, and France controlled Syria until 1946.
Middle East and US: Relations
The relationships between the US and countries of the Middle East have changed over time. The relevant factors include the American behavior in the region, the domestic politics of each given country, the global political situation, such as the transition from the Cold War, and economic factors like the demand for petroleum products.
20th-century Interwar Period
In the 1920s and 1930s, the US presence in the Middle East was focused on two key areas:
Regarding diplomacy, the US recognized newly-established states such as Saudi Arabia in 1931. In turn, Saudi Arabia allowed Standard Oil, an American company, to have a concession (government permit) on its territory.
Similar business relations formed elsewhere. When a large oil field was found in Iraq, Britain, France, and the US signed the Red Line Agreement (1928), splitting the share through the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC). The US was represented by the Near East Development Corporation (ExxonMobil).
Big business interests like this went beyond commerce. Professor of Journalism, Steve Coll, argued that energy giants like ExxonMobil shaped the subsequent American foreign policy.2
Fig. 3 - The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, next to President Nixon, 1969.
Cold War and Beyond
As American power increased after the Second World War, so did its involvement in the Middle East. During the Cold War (1945-1991), the US subscribed to a foreign policy of containment. The latter meant that Communism was to be challenged in every corner of the world along with America's rival, the Soviet Union.
As a result, the Middle East featured a balance-of-power arrangement. Regional players belonged to either the American bloc or the Soviet bloc. For example, Syria usually sided with the Soviet Union, whereas Israel—with the United States.
| Country | Relationship with the US. |
| Israel | - The state of Israel was founded with US support (1948).
- From the 1960s, the US involvement with Israel increased dramatically, backing that country with military aid, diplomacy, and, sometimes, boots on the ground.
|
| Saudi Arabia | - The US recognized the founding of the Saudi state (1931).
- During the Cold War, Saudi Arabia subscribed to anti-Communism and belonged to the American camp.
- Historically, Saudi Arabia had been one of the key US allies in the region and a significant source of oil.
- In the 21st century, Saudi Arabia diversified its foreign policy to include other major partners like China.
|
| Egypt | - During the Cold War, Egypt initially sided with the Soviet Union.
- The 1970s brought a decline in Egyptian-Soviet relations.
- In 1978, President Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, normalizing their relations.
|
| Iran | - American business interests had been present in Iran until Premier Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized its oil fields.
- In 1953, Iran underwent a CIA-backed coup to install a regime favorable to the US and Britain and their business interests.
- In 1979, the Iranian Revolution reversed course. It was followed by the hostage crisis (1979-1981) involving captured Americans.
- Since 1979, the US has considered Iran its regional opponent.
|
| Iraq | - The US relationship with Iraq began with oil interests (1928) and recognition of the country's independence (1930).
- During the Cold War, the U.S-Iraqi relationship grew more complex.
- The US supported Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) but opposed Iraq during the Gulf War (1990-1991).
- In 2003, the US invaded Iraq under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which proved false.
|
| Syria | - The US recognized Syria's independence from France in 1946.
- During the Cold War, the relations between Syria and the US worsened after American attempts to oust Syria's government and the 1967 Six-Day War in which Syria lost land to Israel.
- From then on, Syria was backed by the Soviet side.
- Following a brief period of cooperation after the Cold War, the relationship between Syria and the US was severed because of the US-backed extremists in Syria since 2011.
|
Fig. 4 - John Kennedy and King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud with daughter Princess Dalal, Palm Beach, Florida, 1962.
Cultural Differences between the US and the Middle East
There are similarities and differences between the United States and the Middle East. The Middle East is also ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The multitude of ethnic groups includes those who have lived in this region for centuries and more recent arrivals. The differences have not prevented the US from creating partnerships in the region.
One example is the historically amicable relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a theocratic monarchy—ruled by a royal family with a strong emphasis on religion—with a questionable track record of human rights. In contrast, the US describes itself as a liberal democracy.
However, the historical relationship with the US has been focused on mutually beneficial economic matters, such as petroleum products and weapons.
Ethnicities
The Middle East is home to many ethnic groups, including:
- Arabs
- Jews
- Assyrians
- Kurds
- Armenians
- Greeks
- Turkmen
- Nubians
Religion
The Middle East is the birthplace of the three largest religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Smaller religious groups include the Druze. Each essential religion features several denominations. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia and Israel, are majority Sunni and Jewish, respectively. Other countries, like Lebanon, are more evenly balanced between Shia and Sunni Muslims and Christian groups.
| Religion | Branches |
| Judaism | - secular Hilon
- religious Dati
- traditional Masorti
- ultra-Orthodox Haredi
|
| Christianity | Orthodox - Coptic Orthodox
- Greek Orthodox (of Antioch)
- Greek Orthodox (of Alexandria)
- Syriac Orthodox
Catholic - Latin
- Melkite
- Maronite
- Chaldean
- Syriac Catholic
- Coptic Catholic
Protestant - Historically recent converts
|
| Islam | Sunni - Shafii
- Hanafi
- Hanbali
- Maliki
Shia - Ismailis
- Zaidis
- Ithna Asharis
Sufi |
US and Middle East: Conflicts
Several conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa involved the US. In many disputes, the US supplied one or more sides with weapons, as was the case with Israel after the 1960s. In other conflicts, the US was involved directly or as part of NATO, as was the case with the NATO invasion of Libya in 2011.
Fig. 5 - Iraqi tanks during the Gulf War.
Conflict Examples: Timeline
| Date | Conflict | Description |
| 1982 | 1982 Lebanon War | The US sent Marines to the war in Lebanon after the US ally Israel invaded the country. Israel claimed it sought to expel the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) from southern Lebanon as a pretext. |
| 1980-1991 | Iran-Iraq War | The US backed Iraq during this war by selling Iraq weapons. However, it also indirectly provided Iran with weapons, despite the arms embargo—an event known as the Iran-Contras Affair (1985-1987). |
| 1991 | Gulf War | After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the US-led attack pushed Iraq out through Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. |
| 2003 | Iraq War | In 2003, the US invaded Iraq in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the war on terror. The US also claimed that the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which proved erroneous. As a result, the American occupation of Iraq and failed attempts at state-building lasted for years leading to chaos and extremism. |
| 2011 | NATO invasion of Libya | United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 allowed NATO to strike Libya, back extremist militants, and topple its leader Muammar Gaddafi. NATO's invasion led to regional chaos, a refugee crisis, and open-air slave markets selling sub-Saharan Africans. |
| 2011 | Syrian Civil War | The US-backed various extremist insurgent groups in the Syrian Civil War against the Syrian government. |
| 2014 | Yemeni Civil War | A war began in Yemen in 2014. The US has been supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons to strike Yemen. |
US Involvement in the Middle East: Pros and Cons
Historians and political strategists have different views about the US involvement in the Middle East.
Pros
The pros are:
- The US maintains mutually beneficial relationships with its partners in the region based on trade and cooperation, especially in the energy sector;
- Historically, the US mediated the Middle Eastern peace process, such as the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.
Cons
The cons include:
- The US has also played a destabilizing role in the Middle East, especially after 1991 in countries like Iraq and Syria;
- Military aid to Israel in the billions of dollars does not truly serve US interests.
US and Middle East - Key Takeaways
- The Middle East is an ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse region with a long and rich history.
- US involvement in the Middle East began after the First World War during the region's decolonization and increased after the Second World War. For strategic reasons and oil suppliers, the Middle East is essential to the US.
- Historically, the US partners in the region had been Israel and Saudi Arabia.
References
- Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, Ninth Revised Edition, London: Penguin Books, 2010, p. 148.
- Coll, Steven, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, New York: Penguin, 2012.
- Fig. 2 - Middle East map, 1992 (https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7620m.gct00038/?sp=3) created by the Central Intelligence Agency, digitized by the Library of Congress, no known copyright restrictions.
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