US Policy in the Persian Gulf in the 1980s

Abstract

The article deals with the U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf region in the 1980s. During this period, the neoconservatives came to power in the U.S., which was the reason for the tightening of foreign policy. The administrations of J. Carter and R. Reagan began an unprecedented build-up of forces in the region, which was justified, in particular, by the Iran-Iraq war. The fall of the Shah’s regime in Iran after the 1979 revolution forced the U.S. to change allies. The author proves that during the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. played a double game by supplying weapons to both warring countries. This policy caused a prolongation of the war. Weakening the two most important countries in the region was in line with the U.S. geopolitical objective: during the war, it played the role of “balancer” or “rejoicing third”. However, Washington’s official support for Baghdad led Iraqi leaders to believe that the U.S. would support them in the next aggression