March 24 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

Middle East Realpolitik

March 24, 2008

I. LBJ and the Middle East

1. LBJ and Foreign Policy (domestic concerns; bureaucratic approach; view of Israel)

2. Background to 1967 War (U.S. arms sales; rising tensions between Israel and neighbors; growing Soviet role; LBJ and the Middle East)

3. The Conflict (Jordanian decision to intervene and balance of power; U.S. response)

II. From LBJ to Nixon

1. Aftermath of War (increased Soviet presence; land for peace and UN 242; French reversal; U.S. policy: Israel and sale of Phantoms; maintaining regional allies: oil diplomacy, significance of military aid—Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran; tensions with Egypt, Syria, and Iraq; European influence—Lebanon, Gulf region)

2. Nixon (Nixon background: political decline, refashioning himself as foreign policy expert, transition from anti-communist extremist to elder statesmen, Six Crises and overall approach; Nixon, Kissinger, and transforming international affairs: Vietnamization—from “peace with honor” to a “decent interval”; opening to China and triumph of realpolitik; détente and Soviet Union—path to SALT I; difficulties with Congress)

III. A Realigned Middle East

1. Realigning U.S. Middle Eastern Policy (search for new anchors—Iran: role of Shah, strategic concerns, relationship with Israel, preference for authoritarianism; Pakistan: background, Pakistan-PRC-United States triangle, Nixon and India, long-term effects)

2. Early Regional Initiatives (Kissinger/Rogers tensions and State/NSC relationship; Nixon paranoia and establishment of secret government; Rogers and Jordan; United States, Israel, and 1970 Jordanian crisis; Nixon and Israel; Nixon, Vietnam, and American Jews)

3. Terrorism (emergence of terrorism: European far left—aftermath of 1968, Red Army Fraction and West Germany, anti-semitism and European terrorism; alliance between European and Palestinian terror groups; internal Palestinian battles; Munich massacre; U.S. approach)

4. The 1973 War (Egypt and creation of anti-Israel alliance—importance of Iraq and Libya, resumption of relations with Syria, squeezing Jordan; Sadat and the Soviets; outbreak of war and Israeli intelligence failure; legacy of preemption; Egyptian and Syrian advances; failure of mediation and US decision to airlift; Brezhnev role—testing limitations of détente?; Kissinger, Nixon, and constitutional crisis—nuclear mobilization; reversal of fortunes; path to cease-fire)