The Two Superpowers and the Arab-Israeli Conflict between...

The USA and the USSR were the two existing superpowers at the height of Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East from 1948-1978. Each superpower wanted to increase their sphere of influence in the region as they sought to gain strategic and geographical advantages as well as safeguarding their economic and resource interests, especially with regard to the supply of oil. Both superpowers fuelled the regional conflict by providing Middle Eastern countries with financial and military assistance in an attempt to align these states politically and promote their respective interests. However, the Cold War superpowers were not the direct cause of the conflict, which sprang from diverse religious beliefs and nationalism. The USA and USSR were both party to the UN Partition Plan of 1947 that led to the declaration of the state of Israel. Although not responsible for the 1948 War of Liberation, from which Israel emerged victorious, perceived Zionist support by the West fuelled nationalist sentiment and set the stage for future increased involvement by the superpowers. Guilt over the Holocaust, as well as strong Jewish lobbyists in the US prompted the US to extend extensive loans to aid new immigrants settling in the state of Israel, according to Ben-Gurion’s â€Å"Law of Return†. Sixty-five million US dollars was lent to the fledgling state to strengthen Israeli infrastructure. When these funds were used to construct homes for Jewish settlers, where thousands of displaced PalestiniansShow MoreRelatedSuper Power Involvement in the Middle East1401 Words   |  6 PagesThe superpowers, namely the USSR and US were in engaged in a war by proxy, which is very easy to identify if you analyze the conflicts in the Middle East from 1948 until, and including, the Yom Kippur War of 1978. The superpowers would employ tactics such as supplying their various ‘allies’ in the Middle East with weapons and finances which would afford them the ability to engage in the many conflicts that took place in that period such as the Suez Crisis, Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. AllRead MoreTo What Extent Was the Middle East Conflict between 1948 and 1978 Fuelled by the Interests and Concerns of the Superpowers in the Region2093 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Middle East conflict between 1948 to 1978 fuelled by the interests and concerns of the superpowers in the region? From 1948 to 1978, in the Middle East, the two superpowers at the time the USA and the USSR were trying to exert their spheres of influence in the Middle East. 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The two super powersRead MoreCo nflicts in the Middle East between 1949 and 19731987 Words   |  8 Pagesthe conflict in the middle east between 1948-1973 was not purely fuelled by the interest and concerns of the superpowers but rather of a series of conflictual incidents, aswell as the main wars that took place from the years from 1948-1967 such as the: 1948 War, The Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973. But although the conflict was not fuelled by the superpowers, the influence of the superpowers and the reach of the superpowers into the Middle East was evident in the years both priorRead MoreThe Arab-Israeli Conflict1427 Words   |  6 PagesThe Arab-Israeli dispute is among the centermost issues facing the Middle East today. The conflict itself has spawned a number of wars, myriad militant skirmishes, and several embargos, as well as a lasting peace between Israel and a number of its former opponents. 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