...The Persian Gulf War started in the year of 1990, and continued until its end in the year of 1991 under the presidency of George H.W Bush. According to Kevin M. Schultz, “the Vietnam War was the first televised war, but the Persian Gulf War was the first to be televised live” (p. 538). The Persian Gulf War was mainly in the hands of two countries, them being the Middle Eastern country named Iraq, and the United States. First and foremost, this conflict started due to Saddam Hussein, who was the dictator of Iraq, tried to invade Kuwait. Subsequently, “Bush feared that Hussein might threaten American oil supplies” (Schultz, 2015), so therefore the U.S and other nations all decided on an embargo on Iraq. Since Hussein didn’t remove his troops...
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...richest oil countries. This was the first major international crisis after the Cold War (“The Persian Gulf War”, 2012). After a long process of diplomatic talk and sanctions, the President of the United States, George Hebert Walker Bush, along with the support of the U.S Congress and the United Nations, decided to declare war on Iraq. During his declaration of war speech, Bush expressed that It was a forceful choice, as there was no other way left but to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait with force (pitythefool, 2008). As a result, the coalition led by the U.S won the war in a short time period. However, were the overall effects of the 1991 Persian Gulf War positive or negative for the United States? Political Perspective The 1991 Persian Gulf War had several positive impacts for the U.S from a political perspective. The first Persian Gulf War was not only limited to Iraq and Kuwait. It was also an issue of high political importance for the United States. One of the reasons why the region was so important to the U.S is because the U.S depended on Kuwait for the access of cheap oil. By trying to conquer Kuwai, Saddam Hussain was a direct threat to the economic ties between the U.S and Kuwait. Furthermore, the U.S was afraid that Saddam’s territorial expansion would not stop with Kuwait but would continue into Saudi Arabia (Kimmel, 1998), which is also rich in oil reserves. Thus entering the war, the U.S maintained the positive relations in the region with countries of vast...
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...Realism and the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Saddam Hussein’s quest for regional hegemony pitted his country against the forces of international law. A prime example of where realist theory falls short, Hussein’s forces were trumped by a multilateral coalition of international peacekeeping institutions in one of history’s most lopsided wars. Hussein sought power, and was willing to sacrifice his country’s foreign relations, as well as the health of his own people, to obtain it. In Gulf War I, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was quickly dismantled in a conflict instigated by its own realist intentions. The theory of realism is based on the three factors of statism, survival, and self-help of the sovereign state. The survival of the state as a whole, rather than its citizens themselves, is the main focus of realism. The realist state is expected to enhance its national power by any means necessary; “A POLICY MAKER’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS TO CREATE, MAINTAIN, AND INCREASE NATIONAL POWER – THE MEANS AVAILABLE TO A STATE TO SECURE ITS NATIONAL INTERESTS – AT ALL COSTS” (Lamy 71). Oftentimes, this comes at the expense of surrounding states. A realist state is concerned with its own security first and foremost; “THE FIRST MOVE…FOR THE REALSIST IS TO ORGANIZE OWER DOMESTICALLY. ONLY AFTER POWER HAS BEEN ORGANIZED CAN COMMUNITY BEGIN” (Lamy 72). However, once domestic security has been established, the realist state will look to pursue its self-interest...
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...The transition from British to American hegemony in the Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf is a region of many conflicting interest. The name itself already offers a good example of this, since it is the center of a politicized debate between those preferring Persian Gulf and those preferring Arabian Gulf. Although this debate will not be further explored in this paper – it was decided to use the term “Persian Gulf” as it is most commonly used – this paper will delve deeper into the transition from British to American hegemony in the Persian Gulf and review how various aspects of this are described and interpreted in the literature. This paper will deal with this transition between the years of 1945, the end of the Second World War, and 1971, the year that the British completed their military withdrawal from the Persian Gulf. Even though the Americans were interested in the area before the WWII, the year 1945 was chosen as a starting point because the war had severely altered the power equilibrium between the great powers the United States of America and Britain were considered as at that time. During the Cold War, which started in 1946 the importance of the region was on the rise, both because of the oil and because of the containment policy against the Russians. The relevance of the region was on the rise for America in particular because the power of Britain was waning in the post-war era. Britain, faced with economic hardship, imperial fatigue, and events of humiliation such...
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...The gulf region & Gulf war The Persian Gulf is located in Western Asia. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf consist of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman (Appendix 1a). The six nations are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC aims to boost economic cooperation between members and to guard against any threat from neighbouring states and from Islamic extremism (BBC 2012). The EU has a strong relationship with the GCC, ever since they signed a Cooperation Agreement in 1988. Its objective is to contribute to strengthening stability in a region of strategic importance and to facilitate political and economic relations. It therefore aims at broadening the economic and technical cooperation including cooperation in energy, industry, trade and services, agriculture etc. (Europa, 2012) Therefore when the Persian Gulf War took place on the 2nd August 1990 – 28th February 1991 the EU got involved, however they did not get involved until 17th January 1991. The War was an armed conflict between Iraq and a coalition of 34 nations which were assembled by the United States; including Britain, France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Full list Appendix 1B). Iraqi troops began the invasion of Kuwait). During the period of the Gulf War the European Economic Community (EEC) was in power, the majority of the aims and objectives where based on how they could improve the economy. The cost of the gulf war was calculated by the United States Congress to be...
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...al-Arab Shatt al-Arab near Basra, Iraq. Origin Tigris–Euphrates confluence at Al-Qurnah Mouth Persian Gulf Basin countries Iraq, Iran Length 200 km (120 mi) Source elevation 4 m (13 ft) Mouth elevation 0 m (0 ft) Avg. discharge 1,750 m3/s (62,000 cu ft/s) at mouth Shatt al-Arab (Arabic: شط العرب, "Stream of the Arabs"; Persian: اَروَندرود, Arvand Rud, "Swift River"), is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 km (120 mi) in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 232 metres (761 ft) at Basra to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its mouth. It is thought that the waterway formed relatively recently in geologic time, with the Tigris and Euphrates originally emptying into the Persian Gulf via a channel further to the west. The Karun river, a tributary which joins the waterway from the Iranian side, deposits large amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable.[1] The area is judged to hold the largest date palm forest in the world. In the mid-1970s, the region included 17 to 18 million date palms, an estimated one-fifth of the world's 90 million palm trees. But by 2002, war, salt, and pests had wiped out more than 14 million of the palms, including around 9 million in...
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...Environmental Impact of the Gulf War The Gulf War of 1990-1991 seemed to have been a decisive victory from a militarily and tactical point of view. From an environmental point of view the Gulf War was a disaster that ravaged the local ecosystem that the conflict touched. Both the Iraqi aggressors and the allied forces committed crimes against the environment ranging from use of minerals such as depleted Uranium for weapons manufacturing, and deliberate dumping of oil into the Gulf. The dumped oil spills had a major impact on the ecosystem around the Gulf region and in the Gulf itself. The actions that were taken and not taken from both parties (Iraqi troops, and allied forces) had a negative implication on the resources, and ecosystem of the Gulf. There were three reasons as to why the Gulf war came about. First, Iraq had long claimed that Kuwait was a part of its own country. This claim led to many confrontations and hostility between the two countries. Along with Saddam Hussein’s defeated invasion attempt of Iran, it can be argued that he sought to find a weaker foe in order to conquer which happened to be Kuwait. Second, rich deposits of crude oil had straddled the borders of the ill-defined desert area, and Iraq claimed that Kuwaiti oil riggers were illegally tapping this rich reserve that was claimed to be part of Iraqi fields. The Middle Eastern deserts make it so that border differences between local countries are hard to distinguish, thus leading to conflicts. Finally...
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...Running head: - TITLE The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy Claudette E. Washington Professor Dr. Michael Simms POL 300 – International Problems May 5, 2016 Summarize a situation that required U.S diplomatic efforts during the president’s time in office. The patronizing presidency for Jimmy Carter obligated a one-term governor of a southern state with no coast-to-coast or global involvement. His individual foreign policy goals were understood in the statute of law as well as global matters and in the belief of independence for all people. Furthermore, he required the United States to yield the main indorsing surrounding widespread human rights. Mr. Carter said that the American power must be trained sparingly and that the United States would avoid military involvements as much as possible. Through my research Carter opinions were to help the American families, during the eras of the Soviet Union and to undergo recovery of two state financially control settlements that would relax Cold War strains. Carter's supporters requested his desired of the govern in a diverse way, he wanted not to appoint the Washington insiders to top overseas program locations. After the election Carter accepted the needs of professionals nearby him to deportment for his foreign policy. Carter was impressed with professor Zbigniew Brzezinski of Columbia University, asked him to be his national security adviser and...
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...Running Head: The Carter Doctrine and the Cold War The Carter Doctrine and the Cold War United States Diplomatic Efforts During James L. Carter’s Presidential Time in Office In 1976 Americans chose James L. Carter versus Gerald Ford as their new president. The former governor of Georgia was appointed in hopes of defending American interests in the midst of the Cold War. Of President Carters’ administration, one of its most resilient adversities was faced Iran. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower overthrew the leader of Iran in the 1953 Iranian coup d'etat, and used nuclear threats to conclude the Korean War with China. The New Look policy, the national security policy of the United States during his administration, called the New Look policy gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces; the goal was to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. Carter collaborated in this conquest. In response, Iran installed oppression of fanatical Moslem ayatollahs. This new government seized the American embassy in violation of the diplomatic law, withholding 66 hostages for the rest of the Carter administration. On November 14, 1979 President Carter immobilized the sale of weapons to Iran, banned all oil imports from them, and froze Iranian assets in the United States. The following year conditions for the release of the hostages were announced by the Shah but only in January 20th, 1981 when Ronald Reagan...
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...decade in history because many of those obstacles have been tamed and controlled. Although, there were many problems, George Herbert Walker Bush, The Persian Gulf War, and the World Wide Web changed the fate of this world. The 90s brought former president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush. George H. W. Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts. He grew up in New York City. During World War ll, Bush became the youngest navy flying pilot. In 1945, he married Barbara Pierce and attended Yale. There, he majored in economics, was captain of the baseball team, and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa Honors in 1948. During his presidency, Bush worked very much in the White House for eight years. “Bush traveled more than a million and a half kilometers and visited some 75 nations as a special emissary for the president…” (Grolier 1) Bush was then elected for president of the United States in 1988. He was cautious when it came down to domestic affairs. “He negotiated a treaty with the USSR to reduce nuclear and conventional arms, and in 1989 he intervened military in Panama to depose its president, Manuel Noriega.” (Grolier 2) People around the world supported Bush when he set more than 400,000 American troops in the Persian Golf region to defend Saudi Arabia. And that’s when the Persian Golf War comes into play. During the...
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...Carter and the Doctrine The Cold War and US Diplomacy Dr. Igor Barsegian Pol 300 Contemporary International Problems February 7, 2015 Abstract This paper is about the Carter Doctrine and the Cold War. I will address the wars that are affected by the speech to protect the interest of the Persian Gulf. The wars started in 1991 and they continue on today. The name has changed but the message hasn’t. The last item to address is the final chapter before Jimmy Carter left office. Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the US narrowly beating Gerald Ford for the most coveted office in the US. The margin was 297 to 240 Electoral votes (American Experience, 2006). Carter’s State of the Union was focused on oil since we were coming out of an oil shortage in the early 70’s. His speech sent a strong message to the Soviet’s the US was going to protect the Persian Gulf region by any means necessary (2006). In 1947 President Truman made a similar declaration to protect Greece and Turkey from being controlled by outside forces such as Russia, this is why the Cold War has been in existence. The Soviet started taking over smaller vulnerable countries after WWII. The Carter Doctrine provided in some ways many foreign diplomatic affair episodes involving the use of force by the United States. The first Afghanistan War was a result of protecting the interest of the Persian Gulf region. The US had to use military force to prevent the Soviets from taking over the smaller area in and around...
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...The Carter Doctrine and the Effects in Afghanistan POL 300 July 28, 2013 Professor Koltochnik Adreion Rice Assignment 2 As recorded, The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by the president of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union address on January 23, 1980, which stated that United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interest in the Persian Gulf region. The doctrine was a response to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet Union, and was intended to deter the Soviet Union-the Cold war adversary of the United States-from seeking hegemony in the Gulf. After stating that Soviet troops in Afghanistan posed “a grave threat to the free movement of middle east oil,” Carter proclaimed: The region which is now threatened by Soviet troops in Afghanistan is of great strategic importance: It contains more than two-thirds of the world's exportable oil. The Soviet effort to dominate Afghanistan has brought Soviet military forces to within 300 miles of the Indian Ocean and close to the Straits of Hormuz, a waterway through which most of the world's oil must flow. The Soviet Union is now attempting to consolidate a strategic position, therefore, that poses a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil. When Carter assumed office in 1977, he was a tabula rasa, the perfect American innocent in a world set in its ways. Predictions of how he would behave were few, and those that were attempted were based on Carter’s...
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...IRAQ-KUWAIT War Negotiation Style and Frameworks by Steven Roberts A case study that shows how important it is to consider whether or not to accept concessions (nhượng bộ đất đai) by taking a reasonable perspective and framework. | Bottom of Form On a scorching (nắng cháy) summer day in August, 1990, the citizens of Kuwait stared in puzzlement (tình trạng rối bời) at the encroaching (xâm phạm), dusty streams of what appeared to be a pending desert sandstorm, creeping ominously (đáng ngại) towards them from across the forbidding dessert. To their dismay (mất tinh thần) and horror filled eyes, the quaking (kinh hãi) citizenry (toàn thể công dân) had become helpless witnesses to the advancing units of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army, relentlessly engaged in the illegal invasion of their homeland. There had been no warning of this pending disaster. Kuwaiti resistance was swept aside much like one casually brushes away a crumb from one’s lapel. (sự kháng cự của Kuwait đã bị đánh bật như phủi sạch hạt bụi trên ve áo) After six days, Hussein declared that he had annexed (thôn tính) Kuwait. The world was stunned (sưungr sốt) by Hussein’s audacity(trơ trẽn táo bạo), and the Middle East became very anxious about what the future may hold for this unsettled region. By August 30, the Arab League, called by President Mubarak of Egypt, attempted to defuse (xoa dịu) this potentially explosive crisis through deft negotiation. (khôn khéo) The Arab League proposed to Hussein that if he would...
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...Journal of Political Studies, Vol. 19, Issue - 2, 2012, 57:69 Strategic Importance of Gwadar Port Hasan Yaser Malik ♣ Abstract The pragmatic facets like geography and history have always imprinted the demographical mosaic and development of a civilisation. The civilisations have always developed along the waters. The waters have been used as trade route since long and the modern trade has further enhanced the need of trade through waters. Pakistan being a gateway to the strategically important 'Strait Of Hurmoz' in the Indian Ocean, blessed with hidden treasures and bordering two Islamic Republics, Afghanistan and Iran, has always been a centre piece for Regional Politics. The emergence of Gwadar Port as a vibrant regional economic hub has caused the regional and extra regional powers to develop strategic and infra structural development with Gwadar Port to reach the energy rich Central Asian Republics (CARs). Iran and Dubai Port World (UAE) have interests to keep Gwadar Port out of competition as it serves as a gateway to Strait of Hurmoz. Pakistan needs to be addressing all the concerns to make Gwadar as a regional energy corridor. Key Words: Strategic, Gwadar, Sea lines of communications, Caspian region, Indian ocean Geo Strategic Importance “If we see this whole region, it is like a funnel. The top of the funnel is this wide area of Central Asia and also China's western region. And this funnel gets narrowed on through Afghanistan and Pakistan and the end of this funnel...
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...Persian Gulf Crisis Persian Gulf Crisis, 1990-1991: How Saddam Hussein's Greed and Totalitarian Quest for Power Led to the Invasion of Kuwait, World Conflicts and the Degredation of Iraq Joseph Stalin. Fidel Castro. Adolf Hitler. Saddam Hussein. These names are all those of leaders who have used a totalitarian approach to leading a nation. Stalin and Hitler ruled in the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. Like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein is now. Saddam Hussein belongs to the Baath Party of Iraq. This party adopts many techniques similar to those used by Stalin and Hitler. Saddam Hussein conceived a plan to invade Kuwait. It was, perhaps, one of the worst mistakes he could have made for his own reputation and for his country. The invasion of Kuwait as well as the world's response to it, the environmental disaster it caused, and the degradation of Iraq were completely the fault one man and his government: Saddam Hussein and his Baath Government. One of Hussein's weaknesses is negotiating. Negotiating in his terms is to fight it out with as much carnage as possible until his side comes out "victoriously". Repeatedly, Saddam and his government break international convention laws. During his war fought with Iran, the Iraqi army used chemical weapons on the Iranian troops and even on their own Iraqi population. This was seemingly overlooked by the rest of the world because most nations didn't want to see the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution rise. Iraq...
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