The Dulles mission to the Eisenhower Doctrine: Anglo-American policy toward the Middle East, 1953-1956

The major problem for both American and British policymakers between 1953 and 1956 was their fear of Soviet expansionism. The Middle East, due to its vast oil reserves and strategic location, played a paramount role in this concern. The American State Department and the British Foreign Office spent a great deal of time and energy trying to develop a strategy which would prevent Soviet encroachment into the area. The primary roadblock to implementing any strategy was the Arab-Israeli Conflict.Both American and British diplomats sought to resolve the conflict between Israel and her Arab enemies. Though both sought to end the state of hostilities as quickly as possible, the motivations, strategies, and long range goals of each party were in conflict.By June, 1953, shortly after taking office, the Eisenhower administration began to have doubts concerning the British approach toward the Middle East. In particular the inability of the United Kingdom to dissociate itself from its colonialist past would eventually cause the United States to declare its independence from the British in the Middle East.For the United Kingdom, its main goal was the preservation of its historical position in the region. In trying to achieve this, the threat of communism was used to maintain its position of dominance over the Arabs. As the British strategy evolved, it became more apparent to the Eisenhower administration that cooperation with its ally would possibly mean the loss of the region to the Soviet Union.The development of this study has been largely dependent upon the wealth of materials available at the Public Records Office in London, England the Seely G. Mudd Library in Princeton, New Jersey and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abeline, Kansas. These sources contain the most up to date source material dealing with the divergent American and British approaches toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Middle East in general. It has presented some research problems due to the unavailability of certain documents. However, enough material is available to draw the conclusion that the United States actively worked to separate itself from certain aspects of British policy toward the region, culminating with the announcement of the Eisenhower Doctrine in January, 1957.