Introduction
The presidency of Franklin Roosevelt fell during a challenging period in American and world history. At first, the President was tasked with leading the country out of the Great Depression, and then the United States was involved in the Second World War. However, Roosevelt believed that the economic difficulties of the United States were connected with domestic problems, and he focused on solving them (George 2019a, 235). Regarding foreign policy, Roosevelt took a course of easing relations and de-escalating global conflict.
Politics, Initiatives, Actions
The main achievement of Franklin Roosevelt’s foreign policy regarding the Middle East can be considered the meeting of the President with the king of Saudi Arabia. The meeting took place on 14 February 1945 and was kept secret (Oren 2008, chapter 26). It marked the beginning of the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, providing the US access to oil reserves. However, oil was not the main subject of the meeting: Roosevelt wanted to ask the king to give shelter to the affected Jews in Palestine (Swenson 2021, 4). In addition, a post-war crisis was clearly brewing in the world, and well-established relations between the two countries would help to avoid oil shortages and maintain a more stable socio-economic situation.
Importance to the USFP and American Society
The foreign policy of Franklin Roosevelt largely determined the further development of US world relations. The course taken to protect undefended nations will largely determine the country’s foreign policy. The American public, weary of the turmoil of war and the Great Depression, expected the stability that the President was able to provide. Maintaining good neighborly relations helped avoid a fuel crisis and new external conflicts in a period of world instability.
Long Term Consequences
The main long-term consequence of Franklin Roosevelt’s foreign policy in the Middle East can be called the establishment of stable relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Relations between the two countries resulted from the President’s favorable policy based on mutual understanding and respect. Both countries have consular and diplomatic governments; important bilateral agreements have been signed. Relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia began to deteriorate only by the mid-10s of the 21st century due to global instability.
Relevance of Political Decisions
The foreign policy actions of Franklin Roosevelt can be called relevant today. The chosen policy of non-aggressive negotiations and good neighborly relations can bring the world community out of a state of instability. The course towards rapprochement and mutual assistance can resolve the current complex relations between countries. However, it is hard to imagine such a policy now; for a start, significant efforts are needed to de-escalate the existing world conflicts.
Richard Nixon
Nixon’s foreign policy was more than ambiguous: on the one hand, one can note several significant foreign policy achievements that have taken the United States to a new level. For example, a series of meetings and negotiations with the leaders of China and the Soviet Union led to the stabilization of relations from an almost open confrontation (Larson 2019, 395). Much less successful can be called Nixon’s foreign policy toward Vietnam and the Middle East.
Politics, Initiatives, Actions
The main course that Nixon took as President can be called a focus on foreign policy, sometimes to the detriment of resolving domestic problems. Nevertheless, Nixon made several important decisions that brought the US to the international stage as a strong leader to be reckoned with by all countries. In addition to the Vietnam War, Nixon’s presidency was complicated by two agreements on disengagement in the Middle East between Israel, Egypt, and Syria (George 2019b, 140). This period can be characterized as tricky for relations between the US and the Middle East. Attention to the Middle East issue had to be paid in connection with the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 (George 2019b, 140). The United States found itself in this conflict as a mediator.
Despite growing public pressure, Nixon made several trips to the Middle East, which helped raise the country’s prestige. In general, Nixon’s foreign policy can be characterized as a gradual decision to reduce interventions to preserve relations with China and the USSR (Lord and Kissinger 2019, chapter 5). However, when examining the number of international interventions, it would seem that Nixon understood that the President should pay attention to unresolved problems within the country.
Importance to the USFP and American society
The importance of Nixon’s foreign policy was to establish the US as a strong world power. The Middle East, which had not received due attention, finally became the subject of foreign policy excitement. Nevertheless, there remained a significant number of unresolved issues in the Middle East direction, which were complicated by the tense situation and the growth of public discontent within the country. Nixon’s policy showed that it was necessary to find an appropriate balance between strengthening international prestige and solving domestic problems.
Long Term Consequences
In the long run, Nixon’s foreign policy exposed a number of problems in the Middle East region that had yet to be resolved. The mediation of the 1973 conflict brought the US into the long and challenging Israeli-Arab relationship. The participation of the United States in this direction has not been completed so far, and it is still possible to find a way to resolve this conflict. However, Nixon demonstrated that the United States could not develop steadily only with foreign policy successes.
Relevance of Political Decisions
Nixon’s foreign policy is hard to call relevant in the current situation. Maintaining peaceful relations with the former communist countries would undoubtedly be the right course, but from the point of view of politics in the Middle East, it does not seem strategically right. Evidence of this is not only the unresolved but escalating Israeli-Arab conflict. However, in today’s volatile environment, Nixon’s understanding of the importance of finding a balance between the domestic and foreign policy is necessary.
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter’s presidency was one of the most important for establishing relations that the US and the Middle Eastern countries have at the moment. Despite several significant decisions, Carter was an outcast in American politics. The Iranian crisis doomed Carter to re-election, despite significant steps taken in that direction. Nevertheless, the example of this President can be traced to the critical importance of conflict resolution in the Middle East for the external success of the United States.
Politics, Initiatives, Actions
Jimmy Carter has taken decisive steps to de-escalate the Arab-Israeli confrontation. Carter’s determination to conclude an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty played an important role (Bird 2021, chapter 19). However, the main concern during the Carter presidency was the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war (Bird 2021, chapter 19). Nevertheless, in Afghanistan, Carter was able to develop the right strategy, which demonstrated the military and leadership potential of the United States on the world stage. Carter’s policies were necessary for resolving the Middle East crises and provided an advantage during the Cold War.
Importance to the USFP and American Society
Carter’s policies have had mixed implications for foreign policy and American society. Despite some miscalculations, in general, Carter’s policy can be called correct, at least because of the close attention to the Middle East conflicts. However, from that moment on, the decisive role of the United States as a mediator of the Iranian-Iraqi and Israeli-Arab conflicts was established. This trend does not allow the country to focus on internal problems and may cause public discontent.
Long Term Consequences
Despite the point put by Carter in the Iran-Iraq conflict, it is still far from over. The subsequent events in Afghanistan also cannot be called unambiguous since they caused catastrophic socio-economic consequences for the country and raised significant popular discontent in the United States. However, Carter demonstrated the US’s global role as a peacekeeper and in charge of conflict resolution, showing the role of a global leader.
Relevance of Political Decisions
In general, Carter’s decisions can be called correct, at least if one considers them as attempts to resolve Middle East conflicts peacefully. The mistakes were caused more by coincidence than by strategic miscalculations. Reflecting on Carter’s foreign policy several decades later, one can understand that his course can be generally characterized as right. For the most part, because of the fact, the President did not seek a show of force but a de-escalation of conflicts.
Conclusion
The three considered approaches to the foreign policy of Presidents Roosevelt, Nixon, and Carter contribute to drawing essential conclusions about the relationship between the United States and the Middle East. It becomes clear that these complex relationships are important, and in some ways even critical, to US success on the world stage. However, it is also becoming apparent that immersion in foreign policy is fraught with negative consequences for resolving the country’s internal problems. The ongoing confrontations in the Middle East show that the right strategic approach has yet to be found.
References
Bird, Kai. 2021. The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. United States: Crown.
George, Alexander L. 2019. “Domestic constraints on regime change in US foreign policy: The need for policy legitimacy.” In Change in the international system (pp. 233-262). Routledge.
George, Alexander L. 2019. The Arab-Israeli War of October 1973: Origins and Impact. In Managing US-Soviet rivalry: Problems of crisis prevention (pp. 139-154). Routledge.
Larson, Deborah W. 2019. Learning in US—Soviet Relations: The Nixon-Kissinger Structure of Peace. In Learning in US and Soviet Foreign Policy (pp. 350-399). Routledge.
Lord, W. and Kissinger, H. 2019. Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership. United States: St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
Oren, Michael B. 2008. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present. W. W. Norton.
Swenson, Fredrick. 2021. American Presidents and the Search for Alliances, Peace, Security and Stability in the Middle East 1945-1975 (Doctoral dissertation, New Mexico State University).