Friday’s class……
Told students that we would be starting with the Nixon/Ford years and that is when the US became embroiled in the Middle East with no exit to be found…..
Nixon/Ford years……
Humiliated by the Six Day War, Egypt, Syria and Jordan tried to regain lost territory when they attacked Israel during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur in 1973. Egypt regained some ground but its Third Army was then surrounded by an Israeli army led by Ariel Sharon (who would later become prime minister).
The Soviets proposed a cease-fire, failing which they threatened to act “unilaterally.” For the second time in six years, the United States faced its second major and potentially nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union over the Middle East.
After what journalist Elizabeth Drew described as “Strangelove Day,” when the Nixon administration put American forces on the highest alert, the administration persuaded Israel to accept a cease-fire.
Americans felt the effects of that war through the 1973 Arab oil embargo, rocketing oil prices upward and contributing to a recession a year later.
In 1974 and 1975 Secretary of State Henry Kissinger negotiated so-called disengagement agreements, first between Israel and Syria, then between Israel and Egypt, formally ending the hostilities begun in 1973 and returning some land Israel had seized from the two countries. Those were not peace agreements, however, and they left the Palestinian situation untouched. Meanwhile, a military strongman called Saddam Hussein was rising through the ranks in Iraq.
To be honest the Middle East was only important at this point for Israel’s sake……Nixon had a war in Vietnam, the USSR and emerging China to hold his interests……
Handouts…….
Source: Nixon’s Principles and a Multipolar Middle East | The National Interest Blog
Source: Nixon Administration Ignores Saudi Warnings, Bringing On Oil Boycott
Discussion……..
Who was the only prez never elected to hold the office?
Ford took over the presidency in 1974 after the resignation of Nixon and the effects of the oil embargo was still being felt by Americans even though the embargo had been lifted in 1974 before Ford took the reins…..which led to more interests in the region because of it…….
Source: Educate Yourself – The Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74
The rivalry between the US and the USSR begins to heat up to the point of a possible confrontation……
Discussion of covered material……
This situation was the beginning of a massive US involvement in the events of the region that continues to this day…..
……and now I go teach those young minds……thanx for reading…..back later……