The Causes and Effects of the.

The Causes and Effects of the……：Suez Crisis、Cuban Missile Crisis……

The Causes and Effects of the...

• Suez Crisis
  • Causes
    • Nasser's Egypt Dream
      • Egyptian Nationalism
        • Expulsion of the British and the Royalty--corrupt and elitist
        • Naguib's democracy was thwarted and ousted in 1954
        • A military background might influence his may of settling crisis
      • Arab Nationalism and Pan-Arabism
        • A strong anti-Israel stance and anti-colonialism
        • Nasser was himself as the potential leader of all Middle Eastern states
        • A strong military to effectively challenge both Israel and the British
        • Main ideological and moral impetus of Egypt's aggression toward Israel
      • Economic and social reforms
        • Improve the lives of the majority
        • Secularism, introducing parity in education, land reform and redistribution, nationalized businesses, the control of the Nile River---build dam/costly
      • Egyptian independence
        • Diplomatic move: ❌RP, ✔PRC
        • Seeking for the USSR helps
        • Nationalization of the Suez Canal
        • Deterioration between Egypt and the West
      • The Egyptian decision to nationalize the Suez Canal infuriated the British and French who were in the midst of losing their empires through decolonization, this action emerged from Nasser's plan for the revitalization of a new Egypt, and attempted to achieve it by using Cold War rivalry to achieve their own objectives
      • Michael N. Barnett:"The tenuous nature of Nasser's rule caused him to believe that neither his regime, nor Egypt's independence would be safe until Egypt had established itself as head of the Arab world."
    • UK&FRA's desires in maintaining their sphere of incluence in North Africa
      • The BRI approached French, since Nasser assisted Algerian rebels
      • French citizens were shareholders of the Canal
      • Couldn't act openly so turn to Israel--more likely to take a pre-emptive strike
      • Regarded Nasser as a determined enemy for their influence in North Africa and the Middle East
      • The Suez Crisis was the result of a number of factors, but ultimately it can be traced back to the decline of Britain and France as colonial powers. The very strong initiation of hostilities make the tension remarkably obvious, turning compromises as impossible.
    • Israel's survival
      • Wished to gain control of more territory, especially the Sinai Peninsula
    • The USSR's nuclear blackmail
      • Saw an opportunity to make bold stance in support of Nasser and the cause of Pan-Arabism
      • Nuclear bluff
      • Was able to take the credit in the Middle East and the communist world for having defeated the British and French
    • The USA's opportunitism
      • Withheld their oil to the BRI and FRA
      • Opposed any military action since the Canal is important for oil transportation
      • Unclear, but supported Israel and rejected Nasser
      • Finally turned to Arab Nationalism---to counter Societ influence in the Middle East and the Third Wolrd
      • American diplomat Raymond Hare:"It's hard to put ourselves back in this period. There was really a definite fear of hostilities, of an active Russian occupation of the Middle East physically, and you practically hear the Russian boots clumping down over the hot desert sands."
    • Both the Western and Soviet sectors sought to extend influence in those areas affected
  • Effects
    • UN
      • UN had a template for sending troops and would continue to do so in the future Crisises
      • The Blue Helmets came from the "middle powers" as they were seen as having foreign policies supportive of UN initiatives first and forest
    • The Middle East
      • The world turned its attention away from the events in the Eastern Europe, and the Middle East was more significant to world affairs with oil resources
    • UK&FRA
      • Their influence had significantly weakened
      • British: closer ties to the USA
        • George Peden:"signified the end of Great Britain's role as one of the world's major powers."
      • French: close to align themselves closer tp the continental countries
        • Thomas Risse:"culminated in President de Gaulle's 1966 decision to withdraw from the military integration of NATO".
      • They achieved military independence
    • USSR
      • The Suez Crisis diverted the West concentration from Hungary to the Middle East, a boasted victory
      • Rushing into the Middle East, hoping to fill the void
    • USA
      • Began to see Israel as it most consistent and loyal ally in the region
      • Eisenhower Doctrine--prevent communism in the Middle East
      • Established with some of the most ruthless dictators in the developing world to support anti-communism
• The blue portion refers to the similarities, and the red portion refers to the differences
  • Causes
    • Similarities
      • Bold actions of both Egypt and Cuba were driven from the aims of modernization and independence of nations and peoples
      • The personalities and personal interests of the leaders like Nasser and JFK largley manipulated the process of the two crisises
      • Both Egypt and Cuba chased for USSR's helps, and the assistances were all involved in nuclear weapons or at least deterrence
      • Both crisises are about to affect the interests of the foreign powers which inevitably dragged them into this dilemma
    • Differences
      • Nationalism and vandetta were involved in the Suez Crisis, however, they were absent in the Cuban Missile Crisis
      • There were direct military actions, like air raids and military mobilizations, while in the Cuban Missile Crisis the camps were afraid of using military forces, the Pay of Pig invasions participants were only the Cuban exiles that had not incurred direct military clashes
      • The US was proactively participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis because it threatened the mainstream interests, however, the US acted in the Middle East not as fierce since it pursued stability
  • Effects
    • Similarities
      • Both Crisises determined the US' plan towards anti-communism, and supported other anti-communist regimes
      • Both Crises encouraged the leaders of Egypt and Cuba to act bolder
    • Differences
      • For the USSR, the Suez Crisis was a success since it established close connection with Egypt while also removed the imperialism from the Middle East generally, it also avoided critics to the Hungarian Crisis from the intl community. However, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a defeat since it made compromises to the US, as well as lost Castro's trusts.
      • The nuclear bluff from the USSR during the Suez Crisis was not highly considered for disposition, but during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the prominent influence that created extreme tension made the disposition of the nukes imminent.
      • The diplomatic interactions during the Suez Crisis did not make the US-Soviet communications easier, but the after the Cuban Missile Crisis a hotline was built
      • UN acted in the Suez Crisis and played huge role in peacekeeping, but it was absent in Cuba, which showed one of the UN's limitations---still weak in the direct conflict between two great powers.
• Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Causes
    • Castro's takeover of power
      • Castro: improve social welfare and to rid Cuba off the neo-imperial dominance of the USA----revolutionary reforms for modernization
        • Nationalization of US economic interests
        • Pro-US Cubans fled
        • Turned to the USSR
          • An immediate challenge to the USA
      • The USA: any government in Cuba should reflect and protest US interests, which were considerable, and shown from the US companies and the military base at Guantanamo Bay
        • Moderate Castro by refusing him economic assistance
        • The Organization of American States refused to give financial aid
        • Failed since Castro turned to the USSR
          • The Second Option--military intervention
      • A Latin American country openly allying with the Soviet Union was regarded by the US as unacceptable, especially for which is right close to the US mainland.
    • The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion
      • The new presidency, John. F. Kennedy---(a demonstration of leaders that could change the situation)
        • To be hard on communism---accused Eisenhower government of not doing enough to combat Castro
        • Support the Cuban exiles
      • A severe humiliation for Kennedy and his administration
      • Wary of further U.S. interference, he pursued closer relations with the Soviet Union and became willing to host nuclear weapons.
      • Jim Rasenberger: the Kennedy administration became very aggressive in regards to overthrowing Castro following the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, reportedly doubling its efforts. Rasenberger elaborated on the fact that almost every decision that was made by Kennedy following the Bay of Pigs had some correlation with the destruction of the Castro administration.
    • Cuba turning Red
      • USA fear of the Latin American Revolution
      • Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States
      • Military pressure in exercising near Puerto Rico
      • Since Castro claimed the success of his revolution over the US operation, these US measures made Castro further shakened by the attempt and went so far as to request assistance from the Soviets in the defense of Cuba
        • Castro---declared himself as a Marxist-Leninst
        • Alliance with the USSR
        • Flow of Soviet advisers
    • The presence of missiles
      • The positioning of the missiles in Cuba did not really affect the world the worldwide nuclear balance, but it did increase the Soviets' first strike capability, and it meat that warning time for missiles fired at the United States would be far less than for missiles fired from within the Soviet Union
      • To the US public it certainly seemed that the balance of power had changed
      • JFK faced a crisis, the prestige of the USA and himself, was again at stake
      • The US thought being pressured from the USSR who wanted themselves to leave Berlin
      • Kennedy concluded that attacking Cuba by air would signal the Soviets to presume "a clear line" to conquer Berlin. Kennedy also believed that US allies would think of the country as "trigger-happy cowboys" who lost Berlin because they could not peacefully resolve the Cuban situation. However, he had to resolve this problem because this will always be a bone spur for the USA that the USSR could use as a 'hostage' for negotiating about Berlin issue
      • Kennedy had explicitly promised the American people less than a month before the crisis that "if Cuba should possess a capacity to carry out offensive actions against the United States... the United States would act."
  • Effects
    • For the USA
      • Kennedy's personal prestige increased
      • Cuba shocked the US into realizing the fragility of its own security, and increased its focus on building up military strength
      • Covert operation continued
      • Critics, including Seymour Melman and Seymour Hersh, suggested that the Cuban Missile Crisis encouraged the United States' use of military means, such as the case in the later Vietnam War.
    • For the USSR
      • The Crisis is a humiliation for Khrushchev and contributed to his fall from power in 1964
      • Continued as a superpower
    • For Cuba
      • Threat of a US invasion removed
      • Pursued a foreign policy indepedent of Moscow instead of became a pawn in the East-West struggle
      • Havana---center for revolutionary activity
    • For China
      • Regarded the USSR as ceasing to be a revolutionary state
      • Deterioration---as CHN carried on its own nuke project
    • For the wider international situation
      • A hotline was established between the US and USSR, making communications easier
      • Realized the danger of the nukes, if both have nukes, its actual value of using them=0
      • Decided to initiate eliminating the nukes: Limited Test-Ban Treaty, August 1963 and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 1968