The Regional Pacts and the Eisenhower Doctrine

Abstract

While the Eisenhower administration did not alter any of the basic foundations of American policy in the Middle East during 1953-61, for a brief period it did maintain an evenhanded and balanced position in the Arab-Israel con flict which has not been achieved since. Wisely or otherwise, the Eisenhower administration continued a policy of regional security which centered not on the projects for a Middle East Command (MEC) or Middle East Defense Organization (MEDO), which had already passed into historical limbo in 1952, but on the Northern Tier states of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, and even Pakistan—somewhat outside the concept of the Middle East. The concept of the Northern Tier was em bodied in the so-called Baghdad Pact, or Central Treaty Organization. The United States, however, did not formally adhere to CENTO—as did the United Kingdom—although it became a member in all matters of substantive significance. Whatever the original pretentions or its usefulness in the fields of economic and technical co-operation, it may be very seri ously questioned whether CENTO ever served, or could have served, as a regional security arrangement in the Middle East. The Eisenhower Doctrine, modeled on the Truman Doctrine of March 12, 1947, which served so well in assistance to Greece and Turkey, was more the outline of a policy than a well- developed policy itself and did not prove as successful as its predecessor. At the time, it seemed to raise a standard to which the "wise and prudent" in the Middle East might repair.