A Study On American Middle East Policy During The October War Period

The Arab-Israeli conflict had been mainly resulting in the turbulence in the Middle East, With the development of the international situation in this area, contradiction of various ethnic, racial and religious were not solved, but triggered new problems due to involvement of external forces, To some extents, US Middle East policy has great influences on the evolution of Arab-Israeli conflict. During the Cold War, the United States intervened in the Arab-Israeli conflict, tried to construct the order benefiting America, as well as to maintain the delicate balance, treating the Middle East as a frontier to resist the infiltration and expansion of Soviet Union.The thesis mainly aims to study American’s Middle East policy in the period of October War, by using of the latest declassified documents of the United States Department of State and the existing research, summarizes the relatedness between the situation in the Middle East and the America’s Middle East policy during this period, analyzes the US government’s goals and means, policy and its corresponding influence, which comprised the Global Strategy of America and promoted the peace process of the Middle East. Further, this thesis draws a conclusion that the October War was a turning point of American diplomacy in the Middle East. The outbreak of war was so sudden that it shocked the traditional configuration of American policy in the Middle East, the oil struggles incited by Arab states are taken into consideration to adjust of American’s Middle East policy. The Secretary of United States, Mr. Kissinger launched a series shuttle diplomacy between the Former Soviet Union, Israel and Arabia nations, using multi-pronged approach with stick and carrot, successfully weakened the influences of Former Soviet Union in Middle East, got rid of the oil embargo simultaneously, and achieved a short-term peace. All in all, the October War not only impacted the customary thinking of U.S. Middle East diplomacy but also brought a favorable opportunity to the adjustment of the U.S. Middle East policy.