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)

March 31 Notes

The Carter Years

March 31, 2008

I. Transforming Middle East International Relations
1. The War (Nixon, Sadat, and realpolitik; nature of war Kissinger, Nixon, and constitutional crisis)

2. Postwar Arab Diplomacy (origins of OPEC diplomacy and transformation of Middle East—strains in European alliance)

3. The Eagleton Amendment and Its Effects (Turkish invasion of Cyprus, new internationalists, and Greek Lobby; reaction and view of erratic congressional power)

II. Human Rights Diplomacy

1. From Ford to Carter (Ford transition; attacks on Kissingerian foreign policy: Jackson and neoconservative critique of détente, Reagan and conservative critique of détente; Ford political readjustments and effect on Middle East peace process; Carter bid: Iowa & New Hampshire, anti-Washington appeal, weaknesses of major rivals; campaign and Ford revival; Carter victory; foreign policy apparatus—Vance, Brzezinski, Derian)

2. Carter and the Middle East Matters (energy policy and attempt to weaken OPEC; leadership problems and Democratic divisions; failure; Egypt-Israeli peace process: reviving Kissinger’s agenda; Sadat and realpolitik; Meir, Rabin, and collapse of Labor; Begin victory; nature of settlement; limited political benefits—Panama Canal Treaties, 1978 elections)

III. The Collapse of Carter’s Regional Policy

1. The Iranian Revolution (Carter and the Shah; Derian and foreign aid; weakening of Shah; US intelligence failure—trapped in the 1950s?; death of regime; second oil shock; from Bani-Sadr to Khomeini; hostages and American popular culture; “rescue mission” and resignation of Vance; crisis and its effects)

2. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (great game and Afghanistan’s role in regional affairs; from Zahir Shah to 1978 coup; assassination of Amin and Soviet intervention; changing international context—Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan; Carter administration response—failure of intelligence analysis, doves, SALT, and wishful thinking?, role of Brzezinski and origins of covert campaign; international response—role of UN, India, 1980 Moscow Olympics; initial Soviet successes)

3. The Path to CENTCOM (strategic shift: hostage crisis, Afghan invasion, and path to “Carter Doctrine”; Carter indecision, bureaucratic rivalries within military; early 1980s decisions; importance of Diego Garcia; Cold War framework)

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)

March 12 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

Dual Containment

March 12, 2008

I. Cold War Comes to the Middle East

1. Closing Out Truman (difficulties of the MEC; effects of NSC-68; Israel & the Cold War: confluence of domestic politics and international realities; path to NSC 47/2)

2. The New Look (NSC 162/2: role of economy, massive retaliation, covert operations)

3. Transforming the Middle East (Iranian coup; water diplomacy and collapse of Johnston Plan)

II. The Road to Suez

1. Nasser’s Egypt (U.S. background with Nasser; United States and Anglo-Egyptian base settlement; aid and Israel; limitations—necessities of Anglo-Am alliance; effect of base settlement—rise of pan-Arab rhetoric, tensions with Israel; Nasser’s turn east—Bandung, Czech arms deal)

2. Containing Nasser (Syria: internal instability and CIA involvement; NSC 5412; Eisenhower and Malki regime; assassination and anti-American surge—rise of Ba’athists; creation of Baghdad Pact—significance of Iraq, pulling Pakistan in; question of Jordanian membership; U.S. outside support)

3. Suez (the Aswan Dam debate; origins of Project OMEGA; creation of anti-Nasser alliance: Eden and Munich analogy, France and Algerian war, Israel and French weapons supply; keeping Eisenhower in dark; Hungarian uprising—Secret Speech, rollback rhetoric, Soviet intervention, Nagy death; invasion launched and DDE response; withdrawal, Eden resignation, and UN settlement)

III. Beyond Suez

1. Syria (Operation STRAGGLE to Operation WAPPEN; creation of U.A.R. 1958; U.S. assistance in creation of SAVAK)

2. Collapse (DDE and congressional power: Formosa Doctrine as precedent; debate over Eisenhower Doctrine—constitutional questions, Democratic divisions; implementation: Qassem coup in Iraq; powers’ response—Britain to Jordan, U.S. to Lebanon; rise and fall of Chamoun; Israel: DDE vision, moderate public support, Douglas amendment and congressional role)

3. The Fringes (Algeria: French postwar position and political culture—limitations of 4^th Republic, outbreak of revolt and FLN, role of international public opinion, alternative to Cold War?, Kennedy speech and American anti-colonial traditions, DDE difficulties; Turkey: Eisenhower and nuclear weapons, decision to build Jupiters: US-British tensions, domestic pressures, limits of DDE theories; effects of Sputnik and offer to all NATO; who will take?: limitations of Greece, Italy, West Germany; decision to station in Turkey; ramifications)

March 10 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

The Effects of the Cold War

March 10, 2008

I. Origins of Cold War

1. Turkey & Iran (Soviet pressures—Azerbaijan, straits, northeast, Kurdistan; path to Truman Doctrine)

2. North Africa (wartime legacy, fate of Libya, Arab League)

3. Truman and Israel (stalling policy and hopes for UN peace process; decision to recognize)

II. Grand Strategies

1. Middle East after Korea (Northern Tier vs. Middle East: one region or two?; reaching out to Turkey; Shah and oil contracts; Egpyt’s strategic significance; Korean War and NSC-68, Turkey and collective security; contrasting views of security—United States, Britain, Egpyt, Turkey; Turkey to NATO, collapse of MEC and JCS stress on unilateral military activities)

2. Israel & the Cold War (post-recognition Israel and the world; “nation in arms,” border skirmishes, and arms sales: initial neutrality—significance of Britain, then France, role of Czechoslovakia; Israel and EE dictatorships: Romania, Stalin and Eastern Europe; battle against “cosmopolitanism”: Hungarian purgesàSlánský/Clementis show trials in Czechoslovakia; differing approaches FRG and DDR: Reparations Agreement in FRG, fall of Merker faction in DDR; China and diplomatic disarray; limits of U.S. support—limits to economic aid, path to NSC 47/2)

III. Eisenhower’s Effects

1. The New Look (rollback, McCarthyism, and the 1952 campaign—Republican coalition; NSC 162/2; role of economy; realism and end of Korean War; massive retaliation and Dulles; covert operations; role of Congress and McCarthyism; East Asian diplomacy and significance of Formosa Doctrine; where does Middle East fit in?)

2. Transforming the Middle East (Mussadiq, the Shah, and the 1953 coup; short- and long-term effects)

3. Water Diplomacy (Eisenhower and Israel: minimal economic aid, refusal of military assistance; Dulles and obstacles to peace: anti-Israel vision of regional security; Israel and water—Ben Gurion vision of Negev, decision to divert Jordan R. at Gesher B’not Ya’akov; UN response and threatened U.S. economic sanctions; economic development as alternative to Cold War?: Eric Johnston and TVA concept for Jordan Valley; Arab League rejection of Johnson Plan; Egypt: background with Nasser; desire for military aid; Nasser’s turn east—Bandung, Czech arms deal; US, Nasser, and Aswan Dam)

	1950	1951	1952
Defense budget	$13.3B	$60.4B	$44B
Army	591,000	1.55M	1.595M
Navy	451,000	1.01M	1.05M
Air Force	411,000	1.06M	973,000

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)

March 3 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

World War II in the Middle East and North Africa

March 3, 2008

I. Aftermath of War

1. The Rise & Fall of the Sèvres System (Wilson’s political and personal collapse; treaty and Turkish reaction; Lausanne and quiet US support for Turks)

2. The Origins of Oil Diplomacy (Iraq, Red Line Agreement, and BFDC; development of Western cartel?)

3. Beyond the Red Line Agreement (emergence of Saudi Arabia: Ibn Saud and postwar world; Standard Oil, ARAMCO, and origins of US-Saudi alliance)

II. Road to World War II

1. Origins of War (flashpoints: Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey; Hitler and the Middle East—strategic: opening to Iraq, interest in Egypt; racial—Grand Mufti, Jewish/Arab tensions; British retreat from Balfour Declaration; Turkish neutrality; significance of Iran)

2. US and the Run-up to War (FDR strategic vision; domestic non-interventionism—isolationists, labor and immigration; strategic realities—“quarantine” speech, Welles mission, hostility of Chamberlain and negotiation of Munich agreement; the US and the Jewish question: USOC and Nazi Olympics, Jewish refugees—Morganthau, Ickes, and Eleanor Roosevelt vs. labor, State Department, FDR search for compromise—Alaska solution?, Dominican Republic idea; suspicion of Jewish leaders)

3. The Start of World War II (Nazi-Soviet Pact and invasion of Poland; fall of France and rise of Churchill; Italian entrance into war; Mussolini vision of new Roman Empire—Ethiopian, Albanian, Greek campaigns: pulling Germany into Balkans)

III. Effects on Middle East and North Africa

1. Northern Tier (Turkey: memories of WWI; from Ataturk to Inönü; alliance with Britain/Franc, non-aggression pact with Nazis—playing both sides; Inönü strategic calculations, Turkish strategic benefits, severing relations with Germany; minorities: economic pressures, Turkey and Holocaust; Iran: prewar flirtations with Nazis, path to Anglo-Soviet invasion—abdication of Reza Shah, signing of Tripartite Treaty, origins of U.S. involvement, Teheran and route to postwar problems)

2. North Africa (Italy and Britain, Libya and Greece; transfer of Rommel; US Entrance: FDR strategic vision; FDR and domestic politics; Churchill and Balkans, Stalin and Second Front, decision for North African campaign; Darlan Deal and complications of Vichy diplomacy; Britain and El Alemain; Operation TORCH and pincer campaign, Rommel defeat, fall of Tunisia—German POWs)

3. Middle East (Arab uprising and role of Grand Mufti; exile to Iraq, coup, and British invasion; Balkan campaigns and alliance with Hitler; creation of Lebanon; formalizing U.S.-Saudi alliance)

Feb. 27 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

The Interwar Era

27 February 2008

I. The United States, the Middle East, and World War I

1. Nature of War (Turkish war aims, Gallipoli campaign, Armenian genocide)

2. The United States and the Armenian Genocide (Wilson concerns, role of Morgenthau)

3. Wilson, the Middle East, and the War (Ottoman Empire in 14 Points; Zionist movement; Wilsonian rhetoric—ideals and reality: Egypt, Armenia, mandates)

II. Aftermath of War

1. The Rise & Fall of the Sèvres System (Wilson’s political and personal collapse—Versailles debate, “Swing around the circle,” stroke and incapacitation; path to Sèvres: tension between self-determination and aggrandizement, Greek and Italian demands; treaty and Turkish reaction—Armenian and Greek wars, role of Ataturk, reaching out to USSR; Lausanne and quiet US support for Turks—population exchanges, fates of Kurds and Armenians; long-term effects)

2. The Origins of Oil Diplomacy (strategic effects of World War I: tanks and planes; Iraq and development of Red Line Agreement—Hoover and BFDC: oil access as part of international agenda; British reaction—strategic realities and imperial pretensions, development of Western cartel?)

3. Beyond the Red Line Agreement (exclusion of Iran, emergence of Saudi Arabia: Ibn Saud and postwar world; isolationism and 1920s approach; significance of Depression; reaching out to US; Standard Oil, ARAMCO, and origins of US-Saudi alliance)

III. Road to World War II

1. Origins of War (flashpoints: Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey; Hitler and the Middle East—strategic: opening to Iraq, interest in Egypt; racial—Grand Mufti, Jewish/Arab tensions; British retreat from Balfour Declaration; Turkish neutrality; significance of Iran)

2. US and the Run-up to War (FDR strategic vision; domestic non-interventionism—isolationists, labor and immigration; strategic realities—“quarantine” speech, Welles mission, hostility of Chamberlain and negotiation of Munich agreement; the US and the Jewish question: USOC and Nazi Olympics, Jewish refugees—Morganthau, Ickes, and Eleanor Roosevelt vs. labor, State Department, FDR search for compromise—Alaska solution?, Dominican Republic idea; suspicion of Jewish leaders)

3. Middle East and Start of World War II (Nazi-Soviet Pact and invasion of Poland; fall of France and rise of Churchill; Italian entrance into war; Mussolini vision of new Roman Empire—Ethiopian, Albanian, Greek campaigns—pulling Germany into Balkans)

Feb. 25 Handout

U.S. and the Middle East

World War I

25 February 2008

I. 18^th and 19^th Century Contacts

1. Strategic Uncertainties (foundations of US foreign policy; the Barbary Wars and their effects; Greece, Turkey, and the origins of Monroe Doctrine)

2. Commercial and Cultural Contacts (US approach to the world—commercial treaties, missionaries, Northeastern-centered)

3. The international Transformation of the Middle East (U.S. withdrawal; path to World War I and Ottoman decline, Balkan Wars)

II. World War I

1. Middle East and the Grand Strategy of War (historiographical interpretations of war; alliance system and conflict; mindsets of Great Powers; “use-it-or-lose-it” concept; diplomatic incompetence; Great Power interest in Middle East: Britain and run-up to Fashoda, importance of Egypt, division of North Africa; Kaiser and Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad, envisioning protectorate?; role of the Balkans in World War I—Serbia/Montenegro front, Greek entrance and role of British, Romanian collapse, continuing power vacuum)

2. The Turks and World War I (development of Turkish-German rapprochement; Turkish decision for war and domestic politics; Turkish war aims; Russia, the Czar, and appeals to Armeniaàpath to Sarikamiş; Churchill, Britain, and the Middle East: strategic questions—maintain integrity of OE?, role of the Hejaz; fateful decisions: Gallipoli, significance of Lord Kirchener, backing Emir Hussein; Young Turks and Armenian genocide)

3. The United States and the Armenian Genocide (international reaction: Turkish fears, German recalcitrance; Allied declaration of “crimes against humanity”; Wilson concerns—international law, fate of American missionaries and religious colleges, role of Lansing; significance of Robert Morgenthau response—“a campaign of race extermination is in progress”; New York Times and American press; collapse of relationship)

4. Wilson, the Middle East, and the War (fate of Turkey: Ottoman Empire in 14 Points; road to Balfour Declaration: Sykes-Picot and British-French diplomacy; significance of Lloyd George: Suez and British strategic desires, expansion from Iraq as war aim to Iraq and Palestine; nationalism and general Allied policy; US response to Balfour Declaration—weakness of movement, importance of Brandeis, Wilson and self-determination)

5. The League and the Middle East (Wilsonian rhetoric—ideals and reality: Egypt, Armenia, naïveté of Inquiry; origins of the mandate system; L-G initially tries to play off US against French, Greeks, Italians; idea of Armenian mandate, Senate and peace progressives)

Introduction

Introduction

18 February 2008

Office: Rosenberg 108

M: 1-2; W 1-3; or by appointment

kcjohnson9@gmail.com

I. Course Structure

1. Requirements

2. Structure

II. Time Periods

1. Through World War II: 1783-1945

(US and a Revolutionary World; initial contacts: strategic, economic, cultural; 19^th century contacts and US retreat; World War I and Wilsonianism—self-determination, origins of mandate system, role of League of Nations, transformation US economic policy; World War II—US and Jewish refugees, strategic concerns and North African campaign; the Big Three and battles over postwar colonialism)

2. Aftermath of War: 1945-1960

(Middle East and postwar world—British, US, Soviet desires; tensions in the Northern Tier—Iranian crisis, Britain and Turkey, origins of Truman Doctrine; Truman and the recognition of Israel—moral concerns, political concerns, strategic concerns; from Truman to Eisenhower: covert operations and Iranian coup; oil diplomacy and Eisenhower Doctrine; US and Algerian civil war)

3. Transition Years: 1960-1973

(Kennedy and redefining the Israeli alliance, Dimona and nuclear diplomacy; LBJ: domestic and international constraints, role of Vietnam, US and Six Days’ War; Nixon & Kissinger: realpolitik and redefining the Cold War, limits of the imperial presidency, the US and the 1973 war, the origins of OPEC)

4. Realignments: 1974-1989

(congressional power, the Eagleton amendment, and strains on the Turkish alliance; Carter and foreign arms sales; Camp David and Carter successes; Iran and Carter failures; Reagan: balancing Saudi Arabia and Israel, Charlie Wilson and origins of US involvement in Afghanistan, Iran-Iraq war, Lebanon fiasco, origins of Iran-contra affair)

5. Beyond the Cold War: 1990-present

(Saddam and the invasion of Kuwait; Bush I, the Saudi alliance, and the First Gulf War; end of war and a missed opportunity?; Bosnia and limits of Bush vision; Clinton and Arab/Israeli peace process; Clinton and bin Laden—international difficulties, domestic constraints; terrorism as law enforcement or foreign policy issue?; Bush years—Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Iranian tensions, strains with Turkey and Saudi Arabia)