American Globalism in the Middle East: The Roots of Regional Security Policy

Abstract

Students of American involvement in different Third World regions frequently share a common criticism of U.S. security policy: the United States tends to misunderstand indigenous political change and often mistakes nationalism and neutralism for Soviet ideology and influence. America frequently finds itself fighting against the inevitable forces of political change that have accompanied decolonization and modernization in the Third World. As a result, the argument continues, the United States undermines its own objectives in the periphery by exacerbating anti-western sentiment, transforming intrastate or regional disputes into confrontations of East versus West, and even pushing states toward alignment with the Soviet Union. Currently, this line of reasoning is often advanced with respect to American policy toward Central America; in previous years it has been applied to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.'