Since the end of the Second World War, the United States has consistently been involved with the Middle East. Historically, the U.S. enters different countries in regions for specific purposes with their own interest at heart. Now, this is not to say that America is only thinking of themselves, they usually have the other regions best interest at heart, but they have made some mistakes that have had long-lasting detrimental effects in the Middle East. One of the most important reasons the United States has entered the Middle East because of economic advantages that they can harvest from oil. Another reason for interfering is to fight off communism in this area. The United States also had an interest in spreading democracy and fighting terrorism after the attacks on 9/11.
Countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and many others are very rich with oil which is a major source of energy most countries are desperate for. This includes the United States who wanted their share of it. Thus, in 1944 the United States and the United Kingdom divided the oil in the region so that they could take it. The U.S. also supported a coup in Iran to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq. The United States did so because Mosaddeq was looking to nationalize oil. To keep their control of the energy source America continued to supervise and control a part of the Iranian government. Again, the overbearing Western nation interfered in the government of a Middle Eastern country when Abd al-Karim Qasim of Iraq wanted to nationalize the oil.
The Middle East is also geographically located towards Eastern Europe which was comprised of many communist countries. During and after World War II, it was incredibly important to the United States and other nations they were aligned with that countries caught in between the two powers did not adhere to communist beliefs. This came from the domino theory which believed that if one nation became communist that many others near it would follow suit. So, the United States thought that they ought to stay involved in the Middle East to prevent this from happening. One instance of American attachment was with Turkey which became a communist government. Under President Truman, the United States sent aid to the Middle Eastern nation and tried to contain communism to prevent the domino theory. This plan relatively worked in their favor and Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). During Eisenhower’s presidency, he produced the Eisenhower Doctrine which planned to give aid to Middle Eastern states that were threatened by communism. Years later, this sentiment arose again with President Carter’s Carter Doctrine. The goal of this ideology was to stop Soviet expansion and to contain communism. The United States did this by enclosing the Soviets in Afghanistan. Finally, in 1991 the Cold War ends and the American fear of communism reduces significantly. Now the U.S. had to figure out their purpose in the Middle East.
Finally, the United States involved themselves with the Middle East because of the wars that they were in. This was present throughout the Cold War and preventing communism from spreading, however the focus changed at the start of the twenty-first century. After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, Bush attempted to spread democracy throughout the region and eradicate terror. This was included in his doctrine which called for military action if need be. So, in March of 2003, the United States invaded Iraq to fight Al-Qaeda. Obama then was not able to leave Iraq until 2011 which is also when Osama Bin Laden is killed.
The United States foreign policy had a few interests since the end of the Second World War in the Middle East. Due to the plentiful oil reserves, the U.S. wanted to receive this source of energy so they made sure to have leaders who will continue to export it. Over the past century, the United States was also afraid of communist ideals spreading, so they had a significant interest and preventing any Middle Eastern state from becoming communist. Finally, after being attacked on September 11, 2001, the U.S. looked to spread democracy in the Middle East and fight terrorism.
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