Containment+in+the+Middle+East

The policy of “containment” was introduced by President Truman in 1947 by way of the Truman Doctrine. Through this plan the U.S. would aid countries that were susceptible to communist takeover (Greece, Turkey, and later Iran). When the threat of the USSR loomed upon Egypt and the Middle East, the U.S. had to make an attempt to “contain” the Middle East from falling to communism. The obvious benefits of having strong relations with the Middle East is the amount of oil they export and the United States did not want to jeopardize their ability to receive oil from Middle Eastern countries. To carry out their goals, the United States, along with Britain and France signed a Tripartite Declaration showing their commitment to keeping peace and keeping communism out of the Middle East. The three powers would also limit and keep track of the amount of arms within the Middle East, allowing an appropriate amount to protect themselves. The final point hammered down by the Tripartite Agreement was the fact that the three would only sell arms within the Middle East if they were sure the arms were not used for acts of violence against other nations. Charlie Houk, Period 4