The 1956 Suez Crisis in Terms of U.S Involvement

In 1956, the United States, led by President Dwight Eisenhower, became self-enveloped in the Suez Canal Crisis involving Israel, Egypt, France, and Great Britain. The United States involvement in the Suez Canal Crisis not only resulted in an Egyptian and Soviet victory, but it also revealed that the United States was capable of gambling in order to gain alliance with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser as a gateway into the Middle East. America, left utterly dismayed by its allies who planned an endeavor that neglected the country, became involved in the Suez Crisis to confirm its position as the super power in the Middle East. Great Britain had been present in Egypt since the very beginning of the Suez Canal. The nation recognized the power of the man-made waterway that linked Europe to Asia. The entire world understood the importance of the canal, knowing that if it became nationalized and taken over by the Egyptian government, it could be closed to the use of other countries. On July the twenty-sixth of 1956, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser did just that. Frightened by the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt, the British decided to create a secret alliance with Israel and France that persuaded Israel into invading Egypt even though Egypt, gaining military aid from the Soviet Union, was planning to successfully invade Israel (Milner).

Before the canal was made, merchants and sailors sailed down to the southern tip of Africa known as the Cape of God Hope and up towards the Indian Sea. The Suez Canal was created by Ferdinand Lesseps and it opened in November of 1869 so that ships could travel from Europe to Western Asia. The canal was dug through the bones and remains of those Egyptian workers who toiled and dug the canal m...

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... was placing a pricy bid on one of the most prosperous regions in the world in its time of need. The U.S could have remained neutral about the topic, but seeing that the USSR was beginning to aid the Egyptians in 1955 (Milner), Eisenhower became involved so that no doubts would be made about which nation held its power in the Middle East.

Works Cited

"An Affair to Remember." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 29 July 2006. Web. 27

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Ignatius, David. "What the Suez Crisis Can Remind Us about U.S. Power." Washington Post.

The Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.

McDermott, Rose. "Chapter 6: The 1956 Suez Crisis." Risk-taking in International Politics:

Prospect Theory in American Foreign Policy. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 1998. 135-64. Print.

Milner, Laurie. "The Suez Crisis." BBC News. BBC, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.