Affects of the Cold War on the Middle East - Essay Example

OUTLINE: A. INTRODUCTION Defining the cold war and its roots a. Superpower conflict i. Nuclear arms race b. Ideological conflict c. Expansionism into developing countries 2. Brief summary of the Arab-Isreali conflict 3. Brief Summary of the Afghanistan Soviet War 4. Iranian Revolution. B. Egypt 1. Suez Canal Crisis 2. Cold War implication on Six Day and Yuma Kapur war C. Middle East Proxy Wars 1. Afghanistan 1. Proxy War by US 2. Emergence of Anti-US Militants D. Iran 1. The Islamic Revolution 2. Iraqi-Iranian War 3. Post-USSR Policy E. American Foreign Policy 1. The War on Terror 2. Invasion of Iraq 3. Parallels with the cold war F. Conclusion The Effects of the Cold War on the Middle East The Cold War can be defined as the conflicts of interests between the two superpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, in the post Second World War period. It existed from 1947 to 1991. After the Second World War, the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not need the Soviet support any more to win over Japan after testing the atomic bomb, ensuing the 50 years long Cold War. Thus, the Yalta Conference in the Crimea, Soviet Union, in February 1945 between the “Big Three” allies of the Second World War was one such event that structured the start of the Cold War (“The Cold War” 1). Though during the Cold War, ideological, political, economic and military tensions existed at an extreme level, the superpowers did not become involved in any direct war. Rather their military involvements were confined to proxy wars in various geographical regions of interests. Nuclear arm race between the two main parties of the war, the USA and the Soviet Union, began as a response to the superpowers’ desire to overpower each other. During the period, the world experienced a worldwide regrouping of the countries into the US block and the Soviet block. This regrouping in the Soviet block was mainly based on the Marxist political ideology of Communism, whereas capitalism and democratic interests dominated the countries in the US block. This regroupings in both of the blocks often turned into expansionism and counter-expansionism. The effects of the Cold War on the socio-political affairs in the Middle East were very diverse and discursive in nature due to a number of economic, historical, political and religious causes such the Arab-Israel antagonism, the overt anti-religious nature of Communism, the vast reserve of furnace oil in the Middle Eastern countries, the non-democratic and most likely monarchic political systems in those countries during the Cold War and Islam as the religion of the majority of the people in the Middle East. Since most of the political governments of the Middle East were non-democratic and, to a great extent, monarchic after the Second World War up to 2000, the then rulers were forced to take shelter either in the US block or the Soviet in order to survive in the countries’ power with the support of any of the two superpowers. Also due to the vast reserve of oil, the Middle Eastern countries were strategically important for both of the superpowers. Therefore, the rulers of these countries needed backings of any of these two superpowers against the expansionist invasions of the others. Before the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, the Arab countries were more or less neutral, though because of being geographically close to the Soviet Union and the overt US support for Israel in this region, the countries were more influenced by the Soviet Leaders. Because of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, the countries were alarmed; they began to feel the threat from the Soviet Union’s aggressive nature. Meanwhile, the Islamists’ victory in the Iranian Revolution gave rise to the Islamic wave in the region. These Islamic uprisings were threatening to both the monarchies and the anti-religious communist influence in the region. Almost concurrently the Arabs’ defeat in the Arab-Israel War of 1967 due to the Soviet Union’s callous support gave birth to an anti-Soviet sentiment among the Arabs. As a result, the Soviet influence began to be swayed and the US influence on the Middle Easter countries began to increase. (Norman, “The Cold War and the Middle East From 1945 to 2001”) From the birth of Israel in the Middle East, the United States had been involved in political affairs in the Middle East. Israel, during the threat of the Soviet Union, served as an ally for the United States, however, this was the extent of the support the US received from Israel. Backing Israel came with a great cost, it complicated the US’ relations with the Arab world, forcing it to make decisions based on the national interest of Israel rather than any others, including its own. Moreover, Israel’s strategic location amongst Arab states has limited and challenged its legitimacy to support the United States’ decision to enter the Middle East, such as the Gulf war and the Iraq war. The support Israel receives from the United States extends beyond merely financial aid and into diplomatic support. The US has repeatedly supported Israel’s position including resolutions in the United Nations Security Council – of which the US is a permanent member – “the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel” (Mearsheimer, John & Walt, Stephen 34). The century-old Arab-Israel conflicts greatly contributed to the growth of an Anti-West, especially the anti-US, sentiment among the Arabs. As a result, when the Soviet Union came forward with an assurance to support the Middle Eastern countries, but with a hidden economic motive to establish its control over the Middle Eastern oil reserve, the Arab leaders positively responded to the Soviet call even there is an ideological distance regarding Atheism between the Soviet Union and the Middle East. Thus the Middle East throughout the Cold War had become a ground for rivalries of economic and political interests between the United States and the Soviet Union. Egypt found itself cornered as it was unable to get ammunition and economic support from the USSR; it could not support Egypt neither in the 1967 Six Day War nor in the War of Attrition against Israel. Although Egypt underwent a political changeover from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1972 under the leadership of Anwar El Sadat, the 1973 Yom Kippur War brought about huge congregation of American forces putting at stake détente because of the propaganda of Soviet involvement in backing Egypt in the Yom Kippur War. Soviet influence in the Middle East could be seen not only in the pre-Sadat Egypt getting Soviet help but also in other countries, such as South Yemen, Algeria, and Iraq as well as indirect support to the Palestinian cause by backing Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (“Cold War”). The Six Day War or June War that was held in 1967 was one such major event that heavily influenced the Soviet –Middle East relationship. Israel and the neighboring countries Egypt, Jordan, and Syria became directly involved in the War. Israel won the war comfortably, capturing the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. In the areas captured during the Six Day War, Israel’s expulsion policy resulted into the Palestinian refugee problem, which has become a concurrent issue of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This has created issues in global law affecting international relations in the long term (Six Day War, “Wikipedia,” par. 1). After the Suez Crisis, Egypt, in order to abide with the 1949 Armistice Agreement, was forced to consent to the UNEF (the United Nations Emergency Force) presence in the Sinai.” Egypt entered into bilateral defense agreement with Syria. Jordan blamed Egypt for not supporting it militarily under the garb of UNEF. When the Soviet Union made false reports of Israeli forces gathering on the Syrian border, Egypt ousted the UNEF forces from Gaza and Sinai and the Egyptian Army occupied the former UNEF positions at Sharm el-Sheikh opposite to the Straits of Tiran. Along with other Arab Countries, Egypt also sent its forces to defend Jordan against Israeli aggression, resulting from the closure of the Straits for Israeli shipping. The deteriorating political climate finally provoked Israel waging war naming it as “Operation Focus” at the first day of the Six Day War with a sudden air attack. One cannot deny the role of the Soviet Union played by sending false announcements of Israeli troops positioning at the Syrian borders. In one way or another, the then super power, the USSR, played the provocative role of adding petrol in the enflamed political environment, furthering it to the Six Day War (Six Day War, “Wikipedia,” par. 2). Afghanistan is a Greater Middle Eastern Country. Though Afghanistan is not a Middle Eastern country according to the traditional definition, the presence of the Soviet troops in the country in 1979 hugely affected the Soviet influence on the Middle East. An ambiguous role during the Arab-Israel conflicts as well as its atheistic approach to all religions including Islam heavily frustrated the people of the Middle East. The presence of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan was being viewed by the common Muslims as an aggression to a Muslim country, and therefore, as a threat to the Muslim world. Consequently anti-Soviet sentiment swept over the Middle East, giving the Islamists, especially the Iranian Islamic revolutionists, an opportunity to be morally and popularly strong. Afghanistan became the battleground of the Cold War when the Soviet troops landed on its soil in December 1979 in support of the Afghanistan’s Marxist government led by its ex-Prime-minister, Nur Muhammad Taraki. The US had been providing support to the Mujahidin insurgency against the Soviet-supported Marxist government even before the arrival of Russian forces there. This fact was revealed in an interview by the French weekly newsmagazine Le Nouvel Observateur by the US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. The Cold War between the then Superpowers was an extension of their desire to become world leader by waging a proxy war into which the US wanted to confirm that the Soviet would not be able establish its control on the Arabian Sea that is several hundred miles from Afghanistan’s southern border. The secret American support to the Mujahidin was a trap for the Russians so that America could back out from SALT II treaty from the Senate (War in Afghanistan, “Answers.com,” par. 1-4). The Iranian Revolution itself was a direct consequence of the Cold War and it further impacted the political affairs as well as the Soviet influence in the Middle Eastern countries. Since Iran was the largest Oil enriched country that shared a long border with the Soviet Union, the country was strategically and economically important for both America and the Soviet Union. The USA and the UK jointly planned the overthrow of the elected government of Mossadeh and enthroned the Shah Government. But the US-backed Shah Government fueled the anti-American sentiment both in the country and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Islamists were emergent all over the Middle East due to the growing insurgence against the US role in Arab-Israel conflicts. Instead of being sympathetic to the revolution against Shah’s despotism the US officials continually assured that America would give the regime military support. The US role in the pre-Revolutionary plot fueled the cause of the Islamists to stage the Revolution, thus losing influence on the country. But this indirect defeat of the US in Iran through the Islamic Revolution determined the future roles of the Superpowers in the Middle East in the 1980s. In the same year of the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet Union began to deploy its troops in Afghanistan. Historians argue that the Soviet Invasion was inspired by the mutilated US influence in Iran. One can see the success of the American policy of compelling the USSR to cut its defense budget and later pursuing the line of capitalist economic reforms in the 1990s. Afghanistan has not been able to erase the after-effects and is still facing the repercussions in the form of social and economic tensions, an aggrieved refugee situation, waging of an internal war by the Mujahedin through extremist activities, and Afghanistan paying the cost of independence, not capable of effectively running the country (Effects of the Cold War, “Answers.com,” par. 5). Learning lessons from the effects of Cold War in the Middle East, countries like Egypt have the resources to restructure militarily like Israel and the United Arab Emirate (UAE). But in the post USSR period, states like Afghanistan don’t have easy and chap access to Russian technology and ammunition after the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Cordesman 5-6). Iran has learnt well from experiences with the US, the UK, and Israel, comprehending its position and vulnerability in the wake of Afghanistan and Iraq type US aggression. Iran had distanced itself from direct waging of “tanker war” with the US and Britain in 1987-88 (Cordesman 8). They had recognized the US and Western vulnerabilities in advance before the Second Cold War in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the Islamic extremist organizations like al-Qaeda and others have learned to effectively dissolve into “franchises”; they are fighting with old tactics by leveraging from the shortcomings in the US strategies (Cordesman 9). The US weaknesses in political, ideological, and psychological warfare have become apparent; it has failed in strategically over limiting for furthering its so called stability operations (Cordesman 14). According to Cordesman, Iran has learned from its conflicts with Iraq. Further he says that Iran could not brave the US attack through conventional warfare as proved in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has learnt from the analysis made by Russian, Chinese, and Western analysts. It has pursued a military policy of focusing more on buying asymmetric warfare systems by taking clues from the latest wars (Cordesman, “The Iranian Case Study,” par. 1-3). As stated above, in the post-Cold War period, the military vulnerabilities of the US have come to the fore even before the Cold War came to an end. They were discussed in the Middle East quite before the Afghanistan issue emerged. One of the US vulnerabilities got proved in the Lockerbie case substantiating the fact that that countries and extremist organizations can easily get away from the counter-attacks by committing terrorist operations in the guise of proxies, not leaving a mark of their carrying out aggression and thus, saving themselves from major counter military revenge. On the same line, it could not be substantiated that Iraq was behind the attack on the World Trade Center. As per the conspiracy theories, false flag activities are practical where more than one terrorist group has taken the responsibility or unfamiliar terrorist groups have claimed responsibility although nothing could be proved (Cordesman, “Post-Cold War Military Vulnerabilities”, par. 11). Implications of the Cold War According to Mamdani, the 9/11 is not the result of the clash of civilizations but the outcome of the latest history of the Late Cold War. The period of the Cold War actually starts at the end of the Second World War to the downfall of Soviet Union in 1989, ensuing a period of proxy war till the latest war in Iraq. The proxy war represented two distinct features that of America pursuing a foreign policy of Reagan’s presidency. One finds similar traits in the policies of Reagan and Bush, throwing light on their “War on Terror” framework after 9/11. The Reagan administration saw the Islamic revolution in Iran and other revolutions as the starting of a new trend of anti-American governments after Vietnam. Consequently, America was getting ready for a war against the Soviet Union on the European battleground. According to Mamdani, militant nationalists were presented by the Reagan administration as if they were Soviet proxies. Thus, a changeover in American approach and planning for low-level conflicts emerged (M. Mamdani 12). America shifted in its approach from “containment” to “rollback” through all means of waging proxy wars against “evil empires”, starting immorally useful talk with the apartheid rule in South Africa. Political terror was employed to underscore the nationalist governments in Africa, shifting the proxy war battlegrounds to rest of the world including the Middle East in the late seventies. It brought a change in its political terror approach by befriending al-Qaeda later and Taliban in Afghanistan. Actually, they were American allies in the cold war. America wanted to win “by all means necessary”, matching by a phrase “by hook or crook”.9/11 needs to be taken as an aftermath of sour relations because of incomplete American aims of the Cold War (M. Mamdani 13). America’s bombing of Afghanistan has put a question mark on handling of terrorism. Unlike crime, political terrorism has the purpose of gaining support of the masses. The fear of punishment cannot easily thwart the political terrorists’ mission. What is needed is patient listening to the issues raised by them. Segregating political terrorists through aggression won’t solve the issues such as Taliban in Afghanistan and revolutionary forces in Iran, and Egypt’s involvement with the rest of the Islamic world against Israel and America when there is no support from the erstwhile Soviet Union with its dissolution (M. Mamdani 229). Works Cited “Cold War.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 February 2011. 28 February 2011 . Cordesman, Anthony H. Lessons of Post-Cold War Conflict: Middle Eastern Lessons and Perspectives. 27 May 2004. 11 March 2011 Mamdani, Mahmood. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror. Amazon.com. 2005. 5 March 2011 Mearsheimer, John & Walt, Stephen. The Israel Lobby. New York: LRB Ltd 2006 Norman, L. Robin. “The Cold War and the Middle East From 1945 to 2001”, 14 July 2002. 30 February 2011. Available at “Six Day War.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. March 2009. 28 February 2011 “Soviet War in Afghanistan.” Answers.com. 2011. 28 February 2011 “The Cold War,” Disney: ABC News Classroom Edition. 28 February 2003. 30 February 2011 . Read More