Thursday, October 31, 2013

To be non-aligned...

If a country can avoid becoming entangled in the affairs of the Cold War, and do so successfully, it can pay dividends for the sovereignty and nationalism of that country.  How does this pan out in Egypt during the Suez Crisis and the construction of the Aswan High Dam?  How is Nasser able to manipulate Cold War sentiments in this situation?  Finally, why might non-alignment work for some regions--i.e. North Africa--but fail for a country desiring neutrality like Hungary?

8 comments:

  1. The Suez Crisis was stimulated by the decision to stop funding the Aswan High Dam Project, along with other factors. Nasser refused to let the UK and France have ownership over the canal because he sought to avoid "bipolar paradigm" and promote Afro-Asian cooperation. In doing this, Nasser ultimately manipulated the tension between the US/USSR to achieve success for Egypt. Regarding Hungary, it seems that the Hungarians were simply having their problem at the wrong time; The Suez Crisis was also going on, which was more important to the UN than the Soviet's control of Hungary; more countries were being affected.

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  2. too be honest some of these questions are a bit loaded for so early in our study. as far as i can understand from the short reading we did today what Nassar did was block the Straits of Tiran, a canal that was Israel's only route to the red sea and Israel is an Ally of America. The British and French were outraged and wanted to take back what they felt to be yours, but as Nassar predicted, America urged to avoid military action and advised the UK and the French to against it due America's tense relationship with the Soviets and Communism (-this is where the facts lose me a bit, why is Pan-Arabism related to America's fear of communism?) but what this eventually leads to is the Eisenhower doctrine which essentially promises assistance to all Middle Eastern countries to prevent the spread of communism. This doctrine was however established in the hopes of combating Nassar so I'm not sure if the Soviet/American tension was manipulated in his favor. . .

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    1. haha "yours" i meant "theirs" - my mistake!

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  3. the funding cut for the Aswan high dam project was Nasser's way of putting the US and the USSR on high alert. Nasser knew that that the Suez canal was a vital spot of trade for the entire world. If either one of these countries (US or USSR) were to gain control over it it would pit them against each other over the oil trade. Places that were farther away from the US or USSR were easier to stay un-aligned due to the fact that their influence didn't matter or they didn't have the resources that either country needed or wanted.

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  4. I didn't really understand the connection to the cold war and how Nassar manipulated US relationships to the Ussr. I did understand what the Suez-Conflict was about - Nassar nationalizing the Suez canal and therefore taking away political power that france and the UK had had due to it; then them inciting Israel to send troops to egypt and so on, but I couldn't quite grasp what it did to the US and what it had to do with containment policy etc...also hungary....I'm honestly just so confused right now haha.

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  5. Nasser took immediate control as he "nationalized the Suez canal and blocked the Straits of Tiran, Israel'a only route to the Red Sea." Countries such as Egypt took advantage of the Cold War entanglements between the US and the USSR. Shifting sentiments towards either side, Naser and Egypt as a whole was able to manipulate thee countries in order to gain more for their own. For example, because the US very much feared communism, as soon as Naser began to lean towards the side of the USSR, the US put up the Eisenhower Doctrine which gave much financial support to the MIddle Eastern countries.

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  6. The Chaos of Suez Crisis stemmed from the ceasing of funding for the Suez Canal. Nasser did not take kindly to this and in retaliation prevented European countries from acquiring any ownership of the damn, in order to "Promote afro-asian cooperation." Nasser along with Egypt were able to use and manipulate Cold war mentalities from between the USSR and the Us to gain even more power and control.

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  7. Nasser stopped funding the Asawan High Dam which caused the Suez Crisis. Nasser wanted funding from multiple sides, by not declaring ownership to anyone but Egypt, nationalizing the Canal. The US was afraid of Egypt becoming Communist, while the USSR wanted to gain favor of Egypt, so it was similar to divorced parents competing with each other during Christmas, each side trying to give the bigger gift and win favor.

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