March 5 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

The Cold War Comes to the Middle East

March 5, 2008

I. World War II

1. Northern Tier (Turkish strategic neutrality; Iran and path to Anglo-Soviet invasion)

2. North Africa (significance of Italy; FDR strategic vision and Operation TORCD; Darlan Deal)

3. Middle East (FDR and Jewish refugees; role of Grand Mufti; formalizing U.S.-Saudi alliance)

II. Setting the Stage

1. The World the War Created (Europe: devastation Germany and Italy; Red Army Liberation EE; French and British economic devastation; East Asia: pressure for decolonization—SE Asia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India; Chinese Civil War; Latin America—redeem wartime promises?; nuclear weapons; Middle East—Northern Tier, Palestine question)

2. Harry Truman and Foreign Policy (Truman reliance on State Department and contrast from FDR; importance of Kennan—Long Telegram and interpretation of Soviet behavior; role of European allies—ties among official classes; pulling US in—Churchill and Iron Curtain speech, Monnet and EC, Adenauer and German politics; crisis atmosphere: diplomatic stalemate, Soviet espionage, Wallace attack on HST, midterm elections and their effect; role of Congress: Democratic divisions and importance of Republicans; Vandenberg, Smith, HC Lodge—provide ideological justification; role of official class—Lovett, McCloy, Harriman, etc.; military)

III. The Middle East Role

1. Iran (wartime divisions and Soviet promises; contradictory Soviet goals: Azerbaijan and Kurdish separatist movements, Tudeh coup?, desire for oil; Shah/Ahmad Qavam rivalry; US hesitation—significance of Long Telegram; appeals to UN; Soviet withdrawal and increased tensions)

2. Turkey (World War II legacy; Soviet pressures—straits, northeast, Kurdistan; US military reaction; Greek civil war and US dilemmas; Missouri to Instanbul; Truman and Congress; path to Truman Doctrine—100K mil aid; effects amidst increased tensions—Czech coup, Berlin airlift, collapse of KMT; structural changes: National Security Act—creation of Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA, NSC; establishment of national security state; contrasting visions of American role in world affairs)

3. North Africa (wartime legacy: British-American tensions, FDR, and question of imperialism; Egypt and US open door philosophy; fate of Libya—British desire for Cyrenaica, Soviet demand for joint trusteeship with Italy, US opposition to both; idea of Libyan independence as alternative—British support from Arab League, compromises on Somalia; independence)

4. Israel (FDR’s record: refugees, opposition to congressional action; postwar shift in opinion—Truman, congressional pressure, displaced persons (500,000); British recalcitrance; partition proposal; pressures on Truman—Congress, American Jews, State Department Arabists, military, fear of being outflanked by Soviets; stalling policy—supporting partition, arms embargo, trustee?; decision to recognize; limitations of move; Israeli foreign policy and Cold War)