United States Foreign Policy in Iraq from 1958 to 1959: Communists, Nasser and the Qasim Regime.
Abstract
Among the events dominating U.S. attention in the latter half of the 1950's administration of President Eisenhower was the situation in Iraq following the July 1958 coup d'etat. A proWestern monarchy was removed from power, and the events in the year following gave the United States pause, as Iraq, a linchpin of regional security appeared to be slipping away from the West. Prior to the Coup, the government of Iraq was solidly prowestern, consistently siding with the United States and Great Britain against other Arab nations such as Egypt. At that time that Soviet Communism was believed to be the greatest threat to the Arab world. While siding with other Arab nations during the Suez crisis and other crises involving Israel, the Iraqi government stood alone in supporting the West on other issues. Iraq was the only major Arab nation that became a participant in a regional alliance, the Baghdad Pact. This made Iraq an important part of Eisenhower administration's foreign policy. United States policy in dealing with the Middle East of the time was predicated on two factors: (1) Containment of Communism; and (2) the maintenance of geostrategic stability in the Middle East region as a whole. The region was important to America and its European Allies, and preventing instability in the region was considered vital to national interests. While this foreign policy framework dealt with the Middle East as a whole, it did not deal with considerations in specific regional areas, and this oversight hampered the United States Government in dealing with regional problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA295200
Entities
People
- Robert B. Blanke
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology