March 17 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

Kennedy and the Middle East

March 17, 2008

I. Dual Containment

1. Eisenhower and Nasser (Aswan Dam; Nasser’s turn east; US and the Suez intervention)

2. Containing Nasser (Syria and covert ops; significance of Iraq and Pakistan; collapse of Baghdad Pact)

3. The Fringes: Algeria (FLN and launching of war; US response; domestic pressure; end of war)

II. Kennedy and the Middle East
1. Democracy and Development (Iran as case study: 1950s legacy—martial law, rigged elections, growing popular discontent; Kennedy and the Third World: counterinsurgency, promotion of democracy—Latin America, Vietnam; Iran as model for Middle East?: developmental aid, democratic surge; Shah’s response—military aid, heighten fear of communism, growth of SAVAK; turning point: US and Amini government—withdrawal of support, road to “White Revolution”)

2. The Turn toward Israel (DDE legacy and improving relations late 1950s?; JFK: Israel as model?—Kennedy and developmentalism; politics—Democratic coalition; Nasser and Cold War concerns—significance of Yemen intervention and Jordan crisis; decision to sell Hawk missiles; limitations: question of refugees)

3. Nuclear Diplomacy (Turkey: Jupiters and the Eisenhower legacy; Kennedy and reconsideration; Turkish resistance; Khrushchev, Castro, and origins of Cuban Missile Crisis; Turkey and Jupiters; ramifications; Kennedy and nonproliferation; tensions over Dimona; Ben Gurion, Eshkol, and inspection)

4. The Foreign Aid Revolt (postwar constitutional transformations; expansion of foreign aid and origins of policy riders—Hickenlooper amendment; left-right coalition and significance of Passman in House, “dissenting liberals” in Senate; 1963 bill; Gruening-Keating amendment and foreign aid to aggressor states; LBJ inability to shape outcome)

	Total	Military aid	Economic aid	Food for Peace
1954	$74.7M	0	$54M	$20.7M
1955	52.7M	0	41.5M	11.2M
1956	50.8M	0	24M	26.8M
1957	40.9M	0	26.8M	14.1M
1958	61.2M	0	24M	37.2M
1959	50.3M	$.4M	19.2M	30.7M
1960	55.7M	.5M	23.9M	31.3M
1961	45.1M	0	24.5M	23.6M
1962	83.9M	13.2M	45.4M	25.3M
1963	76.7M	13.3M	45M	18.4M