The Study On The American Policy Toward Middle East (1967-1974)

Arab-Israel Conflict is always an important factor of turbulence and war in the Middle East. Arab-Israel issue has passed from the origin of the Cold War, post-Cold War to this day. With the development of international situation, new ingredients have always been injected into Arab-Israel issue, and then new issues and conflicts have come out, and affect greatly the all world situation. Also, Arab-Israel issue dominates and affects the development and changes of U.S. Middle East policy. In the period of the Cold War, U.S. wished that Middle East would be one of the major battlefields that could safeguard the Freedom World, resisted intrusion of Communism and influence of Soviet. But Arab-Israel issue had always been a disadvantageous factor in the Cold War policy of U.S., so all governments of U.S. all attached importance to this issue.This article is focuses on the study of U.S. Middle East policy from 1967 to 1974. A great deal of originally declassified documents and interrelated works are used in this article. The article aims to narrate international background of Arab-Israel in the Middle East and containment policy toward Soviet of U.S., expatiate the track of the development of U.S. Middle East policy from later stage of Johnson Administration to Nixon Administration, and unveil the interaction relation between U.S. Middle East policy and the development of situation.In the base of the theories of History and International Relations, declassified documents of U.S. government have been arranged and analysed carfully in the article. Some problems need to be answered as following: (1) Owing to the Vietnam War, the attitude toward Six-Day War of U.S. had changed from restraint at the beginning to acquiescence. It was equivalent to allow Israel to launch pre-empt war for Arab states, such as Egypt; (2) Jordan Crisis was a big test for Nixon Administration, but at the same time it offered Nixon Administration some chances that helped to resist the influence of Soviet and harmonize the relation between Arab and Israel; (3) October War striked the U.S. government extremely. Especially, the Oil- as a weapon- of Arab States promoted the adjustment of Middle East policy of U.S.; (4) The formulation and practice of Middle East of U.S. are in close contact with the relations between U.S. and Soviet, Israel and Arab states; (5) The different views on Middle East policy in the interior of U.S. government affected the development and changes of U.S. Middle East policy to a certain extent.