The start of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union after the Second World War began a series of standoffs and conflicts between the two superpowers. This conflict however, did not remain in the two countries and because both desired dominance over one another but did not want all out war, the conflicts were played out in weaker or smaller countries and regions of the world such as in the Middle East. The United States was attracted to the Middle East due to the containment theory founded in 1947, which called for opposition to any USSR expansion, and thus heavily influenced the US to maintain power in a potentially Communist controlled region. Although the superpowers had not always supported the state(s) they backed
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Diplomacy (1994) written by Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, is thus incredibly useful at representing the views of the United States government at the times of involvement in the Middle East. Henry Kissinger was immensely involved in the Middle Eastern conflicts, as showcased by his “ shuttle diplomacy” created after he embarked on various short flights among Middle Eastern countries to prevent and resolve conflicts. He authored this book to show how diplomacy has created the world we live in, and especially how his and America’s foreign policy’s are different completely than that of other nations. He chose to write this for anyone who is even slightly worried about the future of our world, and how politics might shape it. Hence, the document is not only a memoir, but it is also a guide to how to understand the political actions that might reoccur in the future. This book not only summarizes the decisions that were made on behalf of the USA in the Middle East, it also analyzes them from a primary source insider perspective. It shows that the decisions were not always easy, but also why the decisions were made and how that affected the Middle Eastern view on America’s intervention. Besides this obvious value, the book also has a serious limitation. We only ever see one side of the story, which is America’s perspective, and thus we can not tell to what extent their actions were justified. Kissinger served under President Nixon who had a strong stance against communism, and due to this investigation also focusing on the USSR, this source is limited due to Kissinger's prejudice against
Diplomacy (1994) written by Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, is thus incredibly useful at representing the views of the United States government at the times of involvement in the Middle East. Henry Kissinger was immensely involved in the Middle Eastern conflicts, as showcased by his “ shuttle diplomacy” created after he embarked on various short flights among Middle Eastern countries to prevent and resolve conflicts. He authored this book to show how diplomacy has created the world we live in, and especially how his and America’s foreign policy’s are different completely than that of other nations. He chose to write this for anyone who is even slightly worried about the future of our world, and how politics might shape it. Hence, the document is not only a memoir, but it is also a guide to how to understand the political actions that might reoccur in the future. This book not only summarizes the decisions that were made on behalf of the USA in the Middle East, it also analyzes them from a primary source insider perspective. It shows that the decisions were not always easy, but also why the decisions were made and how that affected the Middle Eastern view on America’s intervention. Besides this obvious value, the book also has a serious limitation. We only ever see one side of the story, which is America’s perspective, and thus we can not tell to what extent their actions were justified. Kissinger served under President Nixon who had a strong stance against communism, and due to this investigation also focusing on the USSR, this source is limited due to Kissinger's prejudice against