Eisenhower Doctrine
The
Eisenhower Doctrine, given in a message to
Congress on
January 5,
1957, was the foregin policy of
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The doctrine stated that the
United States would use armed forces upon request in response to imminent or actual aggression to the United States. Furthermore, countries that took stances
opposed to Communism would be given aid in various forms.
The military action provisions of the Doctrine were applied in the
Lebanon Crisis the following year, when America intervened in response to a request by that country's president.
In the global political context, the Doctrine was made in response to the possibility of a generalized war, threatened as a result of the
Soviet Union's attempt to use the
Suez War as a pretext to enter
Egypt. Coupled with the
power vacuum left by the decline of and
French power in the region after their failure in that same war,
Eisenhower felt that a strong position needed to better the situation was further complicated by the positions taken by Egypt's
Nasser, who was rapidly building a power base and using it to play the Soviets and Americans against each other, taking a position of "
positive neutrality" and accepting aid from the Soviets....
On the regional level, then, the intent was that the Doctrine would work to provide the independent Arab regimes with an alternative to Nasser's political control, strengthening them while isolating
Communist influence through isolation of Nasser. The doctrine largely failed on that front, with Nasser's power quickly ritcomes in neighboring
Arab countries including
Iraq and
Saudi Arabia, but in the meantime Nasser's relationship with the Soviet leaders deteriorated, allowing the US to switch to a
policy of accommodation.
The Eisenhower Administration also saw the area as being influential for future foreign policy for not only the United States but also its
allies. The Middle Eastern region contains a large percentage of the world's
oil supply. If the area was to fall to communism, the United States and its allies would suffer large economic consequences.
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Text of the January 5, 1957 Special Message to Congress
