scholarly journals Suez and After: Canada and British Policy in the Middle East, 1956–1960

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-178
Author(s):  
Janice Cavell

Abstract The Suez crisis is generally considered to be a decisive turning-point in Canada’s relations with Great Britain. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester Pearson refused to support Britain’s military action in Egypt, choosing instead to work through the United Nations for a resolution of the conflict. It seemed that Canada was repudiating a subservient role and declaring its final independence from the mother country. However, the documentary record shows that Canadian politicians and diplomats were in fact eager to work for what they believed to be Britain’s good. In their view, Britain had temporarily lost sight of its own, and the western world’s, best interests. During the years immediately after Suez, support for British policies was a priority of Canadian diplomats, most notably Arnold Smith, Canada’s ambassador to Egypt from 1958 to 1960. Smith played an important role in the resumption of diplomatic relations between Britain and Egypt. Drawing on previously unused documents in the files of the Department of External Affairs, this paper outlines Canadian views of, and Canada’s relationship to, British policy in the Middle East during and after Suez. It demonstrates that a “colony to nation” framework is inadequate for the study of the Anglo-Canadian relationship in the years following World War II. Instead, the broader context of Cold War politics must be taken into consideration. The paper also shows that despite the surface differences between Liberal and Conservative foreign policy, there were strong elements of continuity between the St. Laurent and Diefenbaker governments.

1951 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Fitzsimons

Since the end of World War II British Policy in the Middle East has been plagued by the devils of the past, joined by a more formidable company of contemporary devils, some of whom bear a mocking resemblance to still earlier ones. Most of this region was once largely in the weak hands of the Turkish Empire. In this area, strategic for the control of the Mediterranean and the security of the Suez Canal, British policy had been to support the Turkish Empire against the heavy pressure of Tsarist Russia, until Turkey's association with Germany drove Britain to moderate its rivalry with Russia, to accept her partnership in Persia (1907), following a similar accommodation of differences with France (1904).During the First World War the British sponsored the Arab Revolt against Turkey, thus shattering the feeble union of those lands, and creating in the Middle East a parody of the Habsburg succession states, complicated by concessions to France (the Sykes-Picot Agreement) and to Zionism (the Balfour Declaration).


2001 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maziar Behrooz

The 19 August 1953 toppling of Muhammad Musaddiq's government in Iran was an important historical event from various perspectives, many of which are being discussed by Middle East observers to this date. First, it was the first covert post-World War II operation by the U.S. government, in cooperation with Britain, to topple the constitutional government of a sovereign nation. Operation AJAX, as the coup d'état came to be called by the CIA, was implemented at the height of the Cold War, and as such was accompanied by many familiar justifications. The most important of these were the improbability of any resolution to the oil-nationalization crisis between Iran and Britain as long as Musaddiq remained in power and the communist threat posed by the Tudeh Party of Iran and its Soviet sponsor.1 The long-term consequence of this intervention can partially explain the 1979 revolution in Iran and the ongoing crisis in Iran–U.S. relations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy S. Rich ◽  
Vasabjit Banerjee

This article highlights the precarious nature of Taiwan's diplomatic relations in Africa. Whereas Cold War rationales initially benefitted Taiwan, economic interests now appear to incentivize African countries to establish relations with China. Through qualitative and quantitative data covering much of the post-World War II era, this analysis argues that economic factors have trumped political rationales for Taiwanese–African relations. In addition, this article problematizes both conceptions of diplomatic recognition and Taiwan's enduring relations with Africa.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-203
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Aleksandrovich Levin

The paper is devoted to one of the first large operations of CIA in Third World countries of the Cold War period. The changes connected with the end of World War II and the beginning of a new global opposition led to the growth of national movements in all former colonies. Besides relations of the USA with the closest allies became more tense as Washington supported the breaking-up colonial empires which were favorable for the USA. Generally the USA wanted to replace the weakened European powers. There was understanding that the new independent states represented prospective important allies, both in the light of possible direct opposition, and within expansion of sales markets. In these conditions CIA that had recently been restored and reformatted got into active prospecting gear and search of the best mechanisms of work with the new independent states. One of the first critical situations in the relations developed in Iran where the Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain, enjoyed support of the local Communist Party and spoke about a possibility of rapprochement with the USSR. That was unacceptable both for Washington and for London. As a result, investigations of two countries made a decision to perform a joint operation which aim was to overthrow the objectionable government. The summary report of Donald Wilber, a CIA analyst, who was carrying out strategic planning and the leadership in the operation code-named Ajax, opens the most interesting details of a general course and the results of that action.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Jenness

This paper explores the way American intellectuals depicted Sigmund Freud during the peak of popularity and prestige of psychoanalysis in the US, roughly the decade and a half following World War II. These intellectuals insisted upon the unassailability of Freud's mind and personality. He was depicted as unsusceptible to any external force or influence, a trait which was thought to account for Freud's admirable comportment as a scientist, colleague and human being. This post-war image of Freud was shaped in part by the Cold War anxiety that modern individuality was imperilled by totalitarian forces, which could only be resisted by the most rugged of selves. It was also shaped by the unique situation of the intellectuals themselves, who were eager to position themselves, like the Freud they imagined, as steadfastly independent and critical thinkers who would, through the very clarity of their thought, lead America to a more robust democracy.


Author(s):  
Pedro Iacobelli Delpiano

ResumenLa literatura sobre la historia internacional de Chile durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial ha centrado el debate en torno al juego de presiones ejercidas por los Estados Unidos hacia los gobiernos radicales de Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia y Juan Antonio Ríos Morales para conseguir que Chile se sumara a la política continental contra las fuerzas del Eje. La neutralidad chilena fue interpretada como una actitud traicionera por los estadounidenses y en un triunfo por los países del Eje durante 1941 a 1943. Este artículo introduce el debate y busca presentar las posibilidades historiográficas al incluir a Japón, tanto como actor relevante en la política chilena como receptor de la “neutralidad” chilena en el periodo.Palabras clave: Chile, Japón, Segunda Guerra Mundial, Estados Unidos, historiografíaThe Chilean “Neutrality” in World War II (1939-1943): A historiographical analysis focused on the literature of the diplomatic relations between Chile and JapanAbstractThe literature about Chile´s international history during World War II has heavily laid on the power dynamics between the US and the Chilean radical governments of vice-president (interim) Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia and president Juan Antonio Rios Morales. Since the Roosevelt administration sought to secure the rupture of diplomatic relations between Chile and the Axis powers, Santiago´s refusal to break relations was understood as treason by the US and as a diplomatic success by the Axis powers during 1941-1943.This paper delves into the historiographical possibilities in including Japan, either as a relevant actor in the Chilean politics and as receptor of the newsabout Chile´s neutrality.Keywords: Chile, Japan, Second World War, United States, historiographyA “neutralidade” chilena na segunda guerra mundial(1939-1943): uma análise historiográfica, com ênfase naliteratura sobre as relações Chile-JapãoResumoA literatura sobre a história internacional do Chile durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial tem-se centrado no debate em torno ao jogo de pressões exercidas pelos Estados Unidos aos governos radicais de Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia e Juan Antonio Rios Morales, para conseguir que o Chile pudesse se somar a política continental contra as forças do Eixo. A neutralidade chilena foi interpretada como uma atitude traiçoeira pelos norte-americanos e uma vitória para os países do Eixo durante 1941 a 1943. Este artigo introduz o debate e procura a presentar as possibilidades historiográficas ao incluir ao Japão, tanto como um ator relevante na política chilena como o destinatário da “neutralidade” chilena no período.Palavras-chave: Chile, Japão, Segunda Guerra Mundial, Estados Unidos, historiografia


2021 ◽  
pp. 096777202110121
Author(s):  
Peter D Mohr ◽  
Stephanie Seville

George Archibald Grant Mitchell, OBE, TD, MB, ChB, ChM, MSc, DSc, FRCS (1906–1993) was a professor of anatomy at the University of Manchester from 1946 to 1973. He is mainly remembered for his research in neuroanatomy, especially of the autonomic nervous system. He studied medicine at the Aberdeen University, and after qualifying in 1929 he held posts in surgery and anatomy and worked as a surgeon in the Highlands. In 1939, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was based in Egypt and the Middle East, where he carried out trials of sulphonamides and penicillin on wounded soldiers; in 1943, he returned to England as Adviser in Penicillin Therapy for 21 Army Group, preparing for the invasion of Europe.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Robert E. Alvis

Despite is global popularity in recent decades, the Divine Mercy devotion has received scant scrutiny from scholars. This article examines its historical development and evolving appeal, with an eye toward how this nuances our understanding of Catholic devotions in the “age of Vatican II.” The Divine Mercy first gained popularity during World War II and the early Cold War, an anxious era in which many Catholic devotions flourished. The Holy Office prohibited the active promotion of the Divine Mercy devotion in 1958, owing to a number of theological concerns. While often linked with the decline of Catholic devotional life generally, the Second Vatican Council helped set the stage for the eventual rehabilitation of the Divine Mercy devotion. The 1958 prohibition was finally lifted in 1978, and the Divine Mercy devotion has since gained a massive following around the world, benefiting in particular from the enthusiastic endorsement of Pope John Paul II. The testimonies of devotees reveal how the devotion’s appeal has changed over time. Originally understood as a method for escaping the torments of hell or purgatory, the devotion developed into a miraculous means to preserve life and, more recently, a therapeutic tool for various forms of malaise.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-702
Author(s):  
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet

In 1946, the entertainer and activist Paul Robeson pondered America's intentions in Iran. In what was to become one of the first major crises of the Cold War, Iran was fighting a Soviet aggressor that did not want to leave. Robeson posed the question, “Is our State Department concerned with protecting the rights of Iran and the welfare of the Iranian people, or is it concerned with protecting Anglo-American oil in that country and the Middle East in general?” This was a loaded question. The US was pressuring the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops after its occupation of the country during World War II. Robeson wondered why America cared so much about Soviet forces in Iranian territory, when it made no mention of Anglo-American troops “in countries far removed from the United States or Great Britain.” An editorial writer for a Black journal in St. Louis posed a different variant of the question: Why did the American secretary of state, James F. Byrnes, concern himself with elections in Iran, Arabia or Azerbaijan and yet not “interfere in his home state, South Carolina, which has not had a free election since Reconstruction?”


2021 ◽  

Global governance has come under increasing pressure since the end of the Cold War. In some issue areas, these pressures have led to significant changes in the architecture of governance institutions. In others, institutions have resisted pressures for change. This volume explores what accounts for this divergence in architecture by identifying three modes of governance: hierarchies, networks, and markets. The authors apply these ideal types to different issue areas in order to assess how global governance has changed and why. In most issue areas, hierarchical modes of governance, established after World War II, have given way to alternative forms of organization focused on market or network-based architectures. Each chapter explores whether these changes are likely to lead to more or less effective global governance across a wide range of issue areas. This provides a novel and coherent theoretical framework for analysing change in global governance.


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