How did the role of the superpowers change in the Middle East in the years 1945-93
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Introduction
Transfer-Encoding: chunked One way in which the superpowers played an part in the Arab-Israeli conflict was through the support of the foundation of Israel in 1948. Golda Meir?s fundraising efforts were very successful, as she was able to procure $50 million in private donations from the US, showing the initial stages of US support for the Israelis. These donations proved useful for the purchase of armaments by the Israelis. Both the Soviets and the Americans immediately accepted the formation of the new state of Israel, but it was the Americans who were more overwhelmingly supportive. This links to way in which the Soviet Union was also increasingly supportive of states in the Middle East, namely the Arab states. ...read more.
Middle
It is estimated that the US donated $2bn to Israel and the USSR donated $2.5bm to the Arab states during the Six Day War of 1967, and this is not excluding the tanks and MiG fighter planes loaned out to Egypt by the USSR before the war. After the Six Day War, Israel became the primary ally for the Americans in the Middle East, and was the prime recipient of armaments and economic funding. This shows the increasing influence of the superpowers in the Middle East, and the increasing use of the Middle East in the proxy war between the US and the USSR. This links to another way in which the superpowers were involved in the conflict in the Middle East, but this time, to partake in peace talks to end the Yom Kippur War. ...read more.
Conclusion
This shows how the superpowers became so involved in the conflict, in the way that they began to resolve the conflict. Overall, the ways in which the involvement of the superpowers in the Arab-Israeli conflict were through the initial support of Israel through private donations from the US, linking to how the USSR began to support the opposite side - the Arabs, to gain a Cold War foothold in the Middle East, linking to how the superpowers became increasingly involved in the conflict, to the point where the Middle East became a site for the proxy wars of the Cold War, linking to how the focus shifted to preventing further conflict in the Middle East, to prevent the war from expanding further. ...read more.
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