APUSH Notes 8.7 America as a World Power

Unrest in the Developing World

America and the Soviet Union are fighting for influence over the whole world 

• 1947-1960 37 new nations 

  • European empires broke apart 

  • Lacked economic and political stability 

  • Foreign aid would come from US or Soviet Union --> Dollar diplomacy, moral diplomacy, US and Soviets start to play puppetmaster 

• Foreign Aid 

  • By 1960 90% of US aid went to developing nations --> worldwide Marshall Plan (very expensive) 

  • Low interest loans with stipulations --> certain dominance over certain resources, not talking to communist influences, and oftentimes something more than just not turning to communism 

  • Nonalignment- not choosing a side in the Cold War --> willing to accept aid from both sides, problematic because it leads to civil wars 

The Middle East 

• Balance support of Israel with oil interests 

  • Israel created 1948 --> after WWII 

  • Attacked by other nations --> requires help from other countries (US, Britain) and they gain more land from Egypt,, there was no good answer to this land,, don't want to bring in military because then the Soviets might bring in weapons (Mutually Assured Destruction is not a good foreign policy) 

• Covert Action (CIA) --> Plausible deniability bc government and CIA were two different things until they weren't, doesn't give a nuclear threat to the whole world 

  • Less expensive than military action 

  • Eisenhower preferred it --> gave the CIA the ability to do its own thing 

  • 1953 overthrew government of Iran 

  • Returned Reza Pahlavi as Shah --> oppressive but good oil, people of Iran overthrow him, CIA puts him back and basically bribes him with american weapons -- this upsets other nations as a bully who oppresses the people for their own benefit -- everything has an economic component, same vibe as taxation without representation, if there's no oil in Iran, we didn't care who ran it, making the world safe for democracy vs making the world safe for capitalism 

    • Favorable oil prices 

    • Purchased American weapons 

Suez Crisis 

• General Gamal Abdel Nasser --> nationalism, cutting out the west,, makes sense because these are resources in Egypt for Egypt 

  • Asked US for money to build the Aswan Dam 

  • US said no (Israeli safety) --> would be willing to do so if they dropped the nationalism 

  • Soviet Union gave some funds 

• 1956 Nationalized Suez Canal 

  • Owned by France and Britain 

  • Threatened supply of oil 

  • Israel [backed by the US], Britain and France attacked Egypt --> take it back, has ramifications because they don't want to wage war on the west but want to keep their nationalization etc 

  • Eisenhower sponsored a UN resolution condemning the invasion 

  • Invading troops withdrew 

Eisenhower Doctrine 

• US was dominant influence in the Middle East --> Monroe doctrine for the Middle East 

• Soviets had influence in Egypt and Syria 

• Eisenhower Doctrine 1957 

  • Economic and military aid 

  • Middle Eastern countries threatened by communism 

  • 1958 troops to Lebanon to stop Civil War 

• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 1960 

  • Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Venezuela 

  • Controlled Oil supply --> also controlled the price of oil, this changes the previously cheaper prices of oil 

  • Became a foreign policy problem for decades 

Yom Kippur War 1973 

• October 6, 1973 

  • Syria and Egypt attacked Israel 

  • Nixon ordered nukes on alert --> a major escalation step 

  • $2 billion in weapons --> given to Israel 

  • OPEC created an embargo on oil to any countries who support Israel 

• Inflation and loss of manufacturing, oil shortage  

  • Smaller, more efficient Japanese cars --> never really cared about the price of oil because it used to be really cheap but now things changed 

  • Auto industry lost jobs 

  • Alaskan pipeline --> tapping into oil resources in Alaska 

  • Economy continued to struggle --> combine this with inflation and unemployment,, besides cocaine and dancing the 70s isn't all too great 

Camp David Accords 

• Carter, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sadat 

  • Meeting at Camp David 1978 --> what do we need to do to move forward peacefully 

  • Framework for peace between Israel and Egypt 

  • 1979 Egypt is first Arab nation to recognize Israel 

  • Israel withdrew troops from the Sinai territory 

  • Condemned by the Palestinian Liberation Organization --> believed Egypt was making Israeli decisions for them because they felt that Israeli decisions would impact them the most,, will become a large proponent of anti-west, anti-Israeli sentiment 

  • Most Arab nations opposed the agreement 

  • Sadat was later assassinated 

Iranian Hostage Crisis 

• Anti-American sentiment over the Shah 

  • Autocratic rule and westernization 

  • 1979 Isamic Fundamentalists and Ayatollah Khomeini 

  • Overthrew the Shah (he fled) 

  • Iran demanded he return to face charges 

  • Slowed the production of oil 

  • Shah went to US for cancer treatment 

• Militant Students seized the US embassy in Teheran 

  • Took over 50 people hostage --> also cut the supply of oil 

  • Lasted for 444 days --> carter will spend a lot of time negotiating their release 

  • Rescue attempts failed  

  • Represented the failed Carter Administration 

Latin America 

• 1954 Eisenhower approved overthrow of Guatemala 

  • Corrupt dictators were better than Communists 

  • Led to anti-American feelings 

• Kennedy’s policies 

  • Peace Corps 

    • Young American volunteers 

  • Alliance For Progress 

    • Land reform and economic development 

  • CIA organized coups and assassinations 

Return of “Big Stick” 

• Anti-Communists were our friend 

• Johnson was increasingly interventionist 

  • Soldiers to Dominican Republic 

  • 1964 military coup in Brazil 

  • Revolts over the Panama Canal 

  • US would use military against Communism  

• Panama Canal 

  • Panama would take control of the canal in 2000 

  • Carter was criticized for giving the canal away 

Policies in Africa 

• 1960 civil war in Congo 

  • UN supported anti-communists 

  • Seen as more White colonialism 

• Nixon supported White minority governments 

  • CIA spent millions halting Communist insurrections 

  • Congress stopped CIA money funneling 

• 1976 Angola falls to Communism 

  • US stops backing apartheid governments 

• Carter 

  • Championed global human rights  

  • Fought oppression by all White governments 

  • Cut off aid to human rights violators (Argentina, Chile) 

Limits of a Superpower 

• 1969 US astronauts land on the moon 

  • Sense of pride  

  • Technological triumphs 

• Watergate, stagflation, fall of South Vietnam 

  • Credibility gap 

• Economic challenges 

  • Foreign competition, oil shortages 

  • Unemployment and inflation 

  • Cuts in funding for foreign aid 

  • US was losing its grip on the world --> credibility gap, changed the way people viewed the government and the impact it had on the world