American Middle East Foreign Policy 1973: Its Success and Its Effects.
On October 6th, 1973 Egypt and Syria invaded Israel, using Soviet weaponry, crushing the Israeli military. The Yom Kippur War as it was later named, proved to be a major test for the United States' Middle East foreign policy. This conflict did not only test the effectiveness of American foreign policy, but America's commitment to fulfilling the policy. During the time period before and during the conflict, American interests in the Middle East differed from its' official foreign policy. These interests included: maintaining a consistent supply of oil from mid-east countries, containing Soviet influence in the region, and Israel's security as a sovereign nation. However these interests differed from the United States' foreign policy, that is summarized as: developing relations with moderate Arab states, maintaining stability in the region by protecting Israel, and exercising certain moral principles consistent with basic American ideals. Throughout the Yom Kippur conflict American policy was all but unsuccessful, achieving all the goals set forth by the policy. Although American foreign policy was extremely successful, certain side effects occurred as a result to aspects of the policy. American aid and protection of Israel, offended Arab nations, namely Saudi Arabia, who in response, initiated an oil embargo against the United States. Also, the United States threatened Soviet "client states- such as Egypt, in order to regulate Soviet influence in the region, this lead to an escalation of tension between the United States and the USSR. American policies and interests in the Middle East were both political and economic in nature. In tandem with interests and the extreme volatility of the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict and the intensity of the Cold War, the Middle East was the most important region in terms of American interests, therefore the most dangerous.