April 9 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

The First President Bush

April 9, 2008

I. Reagan and Southwest Asia

1. The Iran-Iraq War (from CENTCOM to pro-Saddam tilt; the Tanker War and reflagging decision; US and Gulf States)

2. Casey & Wilson (Reagan and cult of covert operations; Wilson and ability to maneuver Congress)

3. Victory and Its Effects (CIA/Saudi/ISI alliance; significance of stingers; missed opportunities?)

II. The End of the Cold War and the Revival of Middle East Tensions

1. The Cold War Ends (Gorbachev and crumbling of Soviet bloc—perestroika, glasnost; Eastern bloc strategies of survival; economics, Solidarity, and Poland; Hungary and DDR; collapse of East Germany and reunification; importance of the Baltic States and emergence of Yeltsin; dissolution of USSR)

2. The Middle East in the New World Order (Gorbachev foreign policy; PRC and Tiananmen; Saddam after the Iraq war; Bush background—political difficulties, Panama invasion; Bush and Shamir; NSD 26; Bush and the Saudis; Khomeini’s death and Iran’s turn inward)

3. Afghanistan in the New World Order (media role; Wilson and continued push for aid; ISI and Kashmir; Najibullah and desire for national unity government—Bush, Wilson, Pakistan rejection; Bush I: bureaucratic divisions, global distractions; what could US have done differently?—question of leverage)

III. The Gulf War

1. Run-up to the Invasion (Iraq and NSD 26; Congress: Dole, Simpson, and aid, Metzenbaum and human rights, Gonzales, Kerry, and BNL; Justice Department; Kuwait dispute: diplomatic failure?, trusting Saudis; US intelligence failure?)

2. Run-up to the War (Bush, Thatcher, and decision to protest; significance of Saudis; Kuwaitis and U.S. public opinion; Bush and international coalition—role of Arab states; role of UN—significance of Shevardnadze, realism and the relationship with PRC, path to UN 678)

3. Domestic Matters (domestic difficulties: Bush, taxes, and 1988 campaign; deficit, interest rate, and economic slowdown; Darman and budget deal; emergence of Gingrich; Bush and Mitchell: congressional Democrats and post-Cold War world; 1990 elections; Bush and UN argument; congressional pressure; Senate debate; Baker-Aziz meeting)

4. War & Aftermath (decision for war and operation of coalition military strategies—air campaign, effect of Vietnam; diplomatic strategies—importance of Israel, Scuds and Palestinians; media and the war—CNN, Scud Stud; invasion and Powell Doctrine; no-fly zones and Bush response; UN sanctions and WMDs)