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Article: Eisenhower Doctrine
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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EISENHOWER DOCTRINE
EISENHOWER DOCTRINE.
Following the Suez Crisis and the decline of British influence in the Middle East, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles believed that Soviet assertiveness and growing Arab nationalism, especially that of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, posed a threat to vital U.S. interests. On 5 January 1957, Eisenhower announced that the United States would use military force to defend the independence and territorial integrity of Middle Eastern states against communist aggression. Congress voted its approval two months later.
The Eisenhower Doctrine defined itself as a defensive move to contain Soviet expansionism, but response ...