Challenge in the Middle East: Communist Influence and American Policy

250 Pages·1960·1.025 MB·English

by  Harry B. Ellis

C I T
h a l l e n g e n h e
E
m i d d l e a s t
COMMUNIST INFLUENCE AND
AMERICAN POLICY
H E
a r r y b e a r s e l l i s
Also by Harry B. Ellis:
HERITAGE OF THE DESERT
The Arabs and The Middle East
[1956]
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
[1957]
C H A L L E N G E
in the
M I D D L E E A S T
Communist Influence and
American Policy
HARRY B. ELLIS
THE RONALD PRESS COMPANY • NEW YORK
Copyright © 1960 by
B.
H E
arry llis
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher.
library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-15030
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To
Reggie

Preface
From 1952 until the present I have worked with the prob­
lems of the Middle East, for more than half of that time as
resident Middle East correspondent of The Christian Sci­
ence Monitor. My work has taken me widely and re­
peatedly throughout the Arab world, and also to Israel,
Turkey, and Iran.
In this book I have set down certain conclusions of
my own about effective American policies in the area. The
central problem I consider to be the safeguarding of legiti­
mate American interests against the steady pressure of Com­
munist infiltration. In the following pages I explain my
reasons for believing that Arab leaders—notably President
Nasser—are far more deeply concerned about the dangers
of Communist influence than is realized by many in the
West.
I also attempt to show that the national interests of the
United States and those of the Arabs, Israelis, and other
Middle Eastern peoples are compatible, whereas the na­
tional interests of the Soviet bloc and the nations of the
v
vi PREFACE
Middle East are not. This provides a framework within
which a mutually satisfactory, though perhaps never ideal,
relationship may be worked out between the United States
and the Middle East.
In earlier books I have sought to recount, without overly
intruding my own opinions, the histories of the Arabs and
Jews and where these histories have led the two peoples, up
to and including their present impasse over Palestine. This
present book, by contrast, is far more personal in judgment.
Its conclusions are based in part on background informa­
tion, some of it never before published, about past American
relations with Arab leaders, principally President Nasser.
My conclusions also have been reached through conversa­
tions with prominent Middle Easterners at many levels, dis­
cussions with American and other diplomats, and firsthand
acquaintance with the attitudes of “little” Arabs of the
cities and farms.
Despite this personal quality it is my earnest hope that the
book will be accepted as fair-minded by all parties involved
in the complex conflicts of interest in the contemporary
Middle East. Certainly its one conscious bias is that of an
American observer looking at the area primarily from the
standpoint of the interests of the United States.
H B. E
arry llis
Beirut, Lebanon
August, 1960
Contents
PAGE
1 3
D E N
ynamite and an mpty et
2 12
“W C E C ”
hen ommunism nters a ountry
3 31
C T W ’ E
airo hrough ashington s yes
4 55
T L R B ..........................................................................
he ong oad ack
5 87
T U S I
he nited tates and srael
6 121
A I M E
merican nterests in the iddle ast
7 143
W D S S ?
here o the oviets tand
8 180
C Y T
hallenge to ankee raders
9 202
F T T
or oday and omorrow
227
S B .......................................................................
elected ibliography
231
I .....................................................................................................
ndex

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