While the region of the Middle East had for decades been controlled by imperial powers of Britain and France, the United States came onto the scene during the Cold War and quickly became an important factor in shaping the regions history. When looking at the history of the Middle East, the importance of foreign intervention cannot be overlooked as has often swayed conflicts and the development of countries enormously. The impact of the US in the Middle East was not limited as regionally it increased tensions between countries as can be seen in the Arab-Israeli relationship and Iran-Iraq relations. The United States also influenced domestic politics of countries such as Iran and Iraq by participating in an coup which sparked an Iranian Revolution or by giving Iraq military aid during the 1980’s war that consequently jeopardised the country’s stability and people.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began in 1948 after the declaration that the state of Israel was established, the United States has tried to play a role in bringing peace and solving the regional conflict but its presence may have done the opposite. The United States recognition of Israel was felt by Arabs as a direct attack by the Western world and pro-imperialist powers.(textbook?) In addition, the 1940’s was a period of growing feelings of Arab-Nationalism in the region which only further sparked the conflict as the possibility for Palestinian statehood disappeared with the ending of the British Mandate in 1948 (truman library). Morris describes the first war as “part of a more general, global struggle between the Islamic east and the west” (Morris, pg). Although Israel was seen as an enemy of Arab states before U.S. influence and economic support started, the mere presence of a Western power in the state of Israel fuelled nationalism and subsequently more violence in the region.
With the 1953 US and UK sponsored Iranian coup d’etat that overthrew a constitutional monarchy in favour of having a pro-Western monarch in power, Mohamad Reza Pahlavi, the US changed the power dynamics in the region of the Middle East and as a result the relationship between Iran and Iraq. The two countries viewed each other as enemies, however the support of the U.S. in military aid to Iraq escalated the animosity as the war became chemical (textbook). It can be argued that the consequences of using biological warfare was increased violence and hatred as the countries were no longer fighting to only show their dominance in the region but to completely destroy and defeat the other side. The war caused Iran to support Iraqi Kurds and Shia terrorist groups in Iraq in an effort to politically weaken the country. The United States involvement in the war only further encouraged animosity and anti-Western sentiments in Iran as the war yet again proved that with every conflict came Western intervention (NYT). The conclusion of the war left Iraq economically devastated and Iran with the ability to show its dominance which it has done through strategic alliances with other Shiite Muslims and groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iraq’s Mahdi army (BBC). If United States had distanced itself from the region and the politics of both individual countries, then tensions may have not escalated and resulted in one of the longest wars of the 20th century.
The impact of the U.S. on Iran’s political and social climate during the Cold War was seen through the Iranian coup d’état, the rise of Arab-Nationalism which sparked the 1979 revolution, and the affect that the revolution had on Iranian society and foreign affairs. With the 1953 US and UK sponsored Iranian coup d’etat that overthrew a constitutional monarchy in favour of having a pro-Western monarch in power, Mohamad Reza Pahlavi, the United States changed Iran’s future. Since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran’s cultural and political development has resulted in tensions between the two countries and their clashing ideologies. The impact of US intervention in the region was seen in decades to come in the form of resentment of Iran’s history of foreign intervention which would encourage the birth of terrorism and anti-Western beliefs. After the ending of the coup and the reinstatement of the pro-Western Shah, its regime worked towards the suppression of threats to the monarchy which again could be viewed in the eyes of the Iranian people as a Western puppet keeping the country under colonial control. In 1957, SAVAK (National Intelligence and Security Organization) was formed to suppress and remove threats to the regime such as Islamic fundamentalists (Mann, pg?). The CIA’s role in training the Iranian police force in SAVAK, revealed the depth of US involvement and influence over the Shah and internal affairs in Iran (Mann). While the Shah worked to contain opposition, a series of reforms that focused on modernisation and secularisation encouraged further resistance from Iranians and Islamic fundamentalists (Mann). The fall of Mossadeq in 1952 symbolised the worst aspect of foreign intervention in Iran, due to the country losing a nationalistic leader to foreign colonial control. The Iranian Revolution also changed the lives of Iranian women as they now lived in a society where more freedoms were limited and equality was non-existent due to the male being the “head” of the family (Mann). In addition, the growth of political islam in both Iran and subsequently the whole region can be traced back to American meddling as the country’s anti-American values have encouraged it to religious