• Home Page
  • Events And Developments In The Middle East

Events And Developments In The Middle East

Improved Essays
Show More
The timeline of events and developments in the Middle East from 1979 to the present are important pieces in a jigsaw puzzle that go to make up U.S. foreign policy in that part of the world. The missing pieces of the puzzle consist of the larger context that was long in the making, especially since the end of WWI, when the centuries-old Ottoman Empire ended, and the empire’s Arab Lands fell under Western control. An ostensibly independent Iran, and Saudi Arabia had been an ally of the U.S. and the West since the early 20th century and much of the Middle East (namely Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq) was still establishing itself following the demise of British and French imperial control, and the emergence of a Jewish, and culturally Western state of Israel in 1948.

This is the context in which the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the two …show more content…
Then, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, international politics lost a significant counterbalancing power, tilting the world towards the United States. Now the U.S. could exercise its influence more easily, as seen in 1991 when the U.S. gained international support through the U.N. to lead a coalition of military forces into Kuwait to oust the invading forces of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

If the Age of Imperialism is the main backdrop to the pre-WWII Middle East, and the Cold War the main context for international actors in the Middle East from the end of WWII to the fall of the Soviets in 1991, then the growing strength of a global economy with

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of The Reagan Doctrine
    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of The Reagan Doctrine

    “The broad framework of US foreign policy in the era of the Cold War, as well as other eras, the U.S. must adhere to the bottom line. This means, protecting a constructive investment environment for private business benefits” (Hartman, 2002). In 1981, former Pakistani Dictator and General Mohammed Zia al-Haq, understood US Policy bottom line. In a meeting with William Casey, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the dictator offered Casey with a map of the Near East demonstrating how the Soviet Union occupation is moving towards Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea. General Mohammed proposed that if the US does not interfere, the Soviets would produce great economic disturbance in the region (Hartman).…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    How Did Khomeini And Bin Laden Influence American Imperialism
    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Did Khomeini And Bin Laden Influence American Imperialism

    As the relationship between the Middle East and the West becomes more bleak, Khomeini and Bin Laden in the world of geopolitics, share similarities in their philosophical understanding. Worthy to acknowledge are their overlapping views and growing steadfast support in the confrontation of American imperialism, despite having led parts of the Islamic world decades apart. Rather than two people sharing a common interest, the studies of Khomeini and Bin Laden rather imply a sentiment that characterizes Western intervention in Islamic foreign policy as the main factor of Muslim oppression. The two leaders react to U.S. imperialism similarly though policy and rhetoric, despite influencing Muslims decades apart. In response to conflicts with the…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Review: Don T Wait For The Next War
    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Review: Don T Wait For The Next War

    As the world becomes increasingly globalized, the success of one state depends on the wellbeing of several others. The United States continuously involves itself in world affairs in order to protect and encourage growth of the state. Over the years the United States falls to war in hopes to protect its livelihood among the international and domestic community. If one state were to fall, the United States economy and infrastructure would suffer. Throughout the book, topics address the notion of the declining influence the United States has on the world.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    United States Contradictory Policy Analysis
    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    United States Contradictory Policy Analysis

    Over the course of the last 40 years, the United States has been tangled in the political environments of both the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq. This entanglement is rooted in the contradictory involvement of the United States in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980’s. In the war, the United States supported both sides of a conflict in which it officially wished to end, but the resources it provided may have actually allowed the war to continue. One should ask, “Why would the United States pursue contradictory policies in a war it claimed to want to end?” The contradictory policies are grounded in the fact that the United States aimed to effectively prevent a victory from either country, ensuring the security of its interests…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Modern Middle East: The Great Nineteenth Century
    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Modern Middle East: The Great Nineteenth Century

    The modern Middle East as it exists today consists of complex interactions between the political, economic, and social spheres. Though it would be simple to attribute conflict in the area to something basic such as the supposed inherent violence in Islam, a look further in the past is necessary to fully understand the Middle East as it exists today. By analyzing the great nineteenth century transformation and World War I, a clear understanding of the political, economic, and social landscapes of the modern Middle East will develop. EDIT ME The great nineteenth century transformation saw numerous transformations, from market place economies to market economies, to the creation and destruction of social categories.…

    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis Of Rashid Khalidi's Sowing Crisis
    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis Of Rashid Khalidi's Sowing Crisis

    Sowing Crisis explains how the Cold war and policies taken by the U.S. have spilled over into today and how it has affected modern U.S. relations with the Middle East. Rashid Khalidi feels that wartime and postwar moves in North Africa and Iran, as well as U.S. air bases in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, and Turkey, marked the beginning of “an American role as the major Middle Eastern Power, a reality that was masked for a time by the power and proximity to the region of the USSR (Page 9).” Khalidi believes that since the end of the cold war the U.S’s interest in the Middle East has grown greater and greater, like the Gulf war of 1991, and the Oslo accords in 1993. He closes the opening chapter by asking how the U.S. got itself into this situation…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Liberalism In Iraq
    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Liberalism In Iraq

    Nick Sherman Professor Asal Political science 102 9/27/16 In the wake of 9/11 The United States, The United Kingdom, and many other nations formed a coalition against the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein. The coalition force invaded in 2003 to overthrow Saddam’s dictatorship and establish a democratic state in the Middle East. Although in some instances realism can describe the invasion of Iraq, the theory of Liberalism best describes the invasion because of liberal notions such as collective security and the belief that cooperation can lead to beneficial outcomes to all involved.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis Of David Farber's Taken Hostage Crisis
    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Analysis Of David Farber's Taken Hostage Crisis

    This “Cold War policy” would soon play a large role in the crisis between the United States and radical Islam. Rather than viewing the unfolding catastrophe as the United State’s first entanglement with radical Islam, Cold War policy shaped the response the United States had to the crisis by American policymakers viewing Iran through a Cold War paradigm, seeing “Soviet Red and not Islamic Green” as Farber states (Farber 5). As an initial containment strategy to stop the spread of communism, the United States government appointed the Shah of Iran in 1953. Tensions started rising as Iranians saw the United States as playing a large role in determining Iran’s future. Farber states “the Shah’s growing number of opponents believed that the United States continued to play a fundamental role in maintaining the Shah in power and in determining Iran’s destiny” (Farber 37).…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Middle East Research Paper
    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Middle East Research Paper

    policies have been influencing countries in the Middle East for a long time. Those policies have not been efficient in solving the crisis in the Middle East. The United States of America have always sided with leaders that will push its agenda and those actions have created resentment amongst many countries in the Middle East. The U.S. has been promoting democracy in the middle and that have resulted in utter chaos. The policies that the United States government has been promoting in the Middle East are direct reflections on the American public due to the fact these politicians and policymakers are representatives of their constituency.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Ronald Reagan Ideology
    • 3937 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Ronald Reagan Ideology

    “We Win, They Lose”: How Reagan’s Foreign Policy Brought Down the Soviet Union The 1980s was a pivotal era in world history. After decades of America’s failed containment policies which strengthened and helped spread Communism across the globe, a change in direction was desperately needed. Ronald Reagan fundamentally shifted American foreign policy as president, which in turn, greatly influenced the collapse of the “evil empire” by the early nineties. Although the Reagan Administration did not live to see the collapse of Soviet Communism, Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union.…

    • 3937 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Political Issues In Saudi Arabia
    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Political Issues In Saudi Arabia

    From its creation, America has been a beacon of hope and freedom to many countries who have aspired to adopt their democratic values. Yet, these values have not always been sought after by other countries, and instead are sometimes imposed upon the ones who rarely accept them with open arms. The Middle East is a seamless example of countries exhibiting resistance to the American way of life and democracy; with many leaders rebelling against the notion due to religious reason. Particularly, Saudi Arabia has been a Middle Eastern Country that has had very close relationship the United States, and over time has adopted forms of its culture even though it clashes with their own. Saudi Arabia has become more Westernized and modernized with the discovery…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Edward Said's Theory Of Orientalism By Al-Azm
    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Edward Said's Theory Of Orientalism By Al-Azm

    The fact that the inherent dependency of the Arab World upon the United States today in multiple realms is not in itself a negative historical development is an odd statement by Said. One cannot deny that the current nature of this “satellite relationship” is clearly tilted in favor of the United States, but whether or not this situation can genuinely be reformed while retaining the most fundamental power dynamics is less self-evident. Al-Azm, therefore, sounds far more reasonable when he argues that “salvation” is impossible while the system of dependency remains intact. The very concept of dependency demands an imbalance of power between the two…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Religion In The Middle East
    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Religion In The Middle East

    Misunderstandings and a lacking of cultural appreciation have caused many to fall into a misconception over the Middle East. With mass media only broadcasting the negative stories of the Middle East, a land of beauty, culture, and morality has been painted as a land of terror, destruction and anger from those who do not wish to understand the “why” behind it all. The three variables I believe impacted the Middle Eastern societies was first, the spread of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Second being the migration of western imperialism in the Middle East, in which the British wanted to control the Middle East for selfish reasons. Finally, the Palestinian and Israeli conflict that started after the retreat of western imperialism, as well as…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Ideological Hegemony In The Middle East
    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ideological Hegemony In The Middle East

    In light of the recent turmoil that has engulfed the Middle East recently, one may think that a new Middle East is emerging, however, due to recent setbacks, one may think the opposite and that the “old” Middle East is making a comeback. Both might be right, on the one hand it can be said that the region is in the throes of a transitional period to a more democratic future, while on the other hand it can be seen that the new rulers installed after the Arab Spring appear to be backsliding into old ways of dictatorship and autocracy. It may be tempting for the reader to conclude that the indigenous factors in the region are responsible for this reversal; however it may be more complex than it would seem. While one might say that the kind of…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Saudi Arabia Research Paper
    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Saudi Arabia Research Paper

    Saudi Arabia: A Petroleum Super Power and Strategically Placed Ally The gulf state of Saudi Arabia has built a booming petroleum-based economy with a strategic location of high importance to the United States and her interest. Saudi Arabia has the strongest economy on the Arabian Peninsula. Its investments in the PATRIOT missile system have catapulted them to the top slot of valuable allies that the United States has in the region. The strong cultural history of Saudi Arabia has helped shape their free trade economy and is the reason for their dominance over the Middle Eastern-North African region for foreign investments. Saudi Arabia’s petroleum-based economy is the highest ranked on the Arabian Peninsula.…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings