This book explores three themes. The Eisenhower Administration's overriding Cold War goal in the oil-rich Middle East was minimizing Soviet influence. Second, Soviet support for Arab opposition to British colonialism and Israeli Zionism prompted Arab nationalists to embrace neutralism in the Cold War. Third, Eisenhower and Dulles perceived neutral Arab nationalism as virtually tantamount to pro-communism. Syria, the most xenophobic Arab state, was deemed most susceptible to Soviet enticements. This book concludes that U.S. policies in Syria went awry, provoking Syria to collaborate even more closely with the Soviet Union.

This book explores three themes. The Eisenhower Administration's overriding Cold War goal in the oil-rich Middle East was minimizing Soviet influence. Second, Soviet support for Arab opposition to British colonialism and Israeli Zionism prompted Arab nationalists to embrace neutralism in the Cold War. Third, Eisenhower and Dulles perceived neutral Arab nationalism as virtually tantamount to pro-communism. Syria, the most xenophobic Arab state, was deemed most susceptible to Soviet enticements. This book concludes that U.S. policies in Syria went awry, provoking Syria to collaborate even more closely with the Soviet Union.