Notes from the Minefield: United States Intervention in Lebanon, 1945-1958

Irene Gendzier

Published by Columbia University Press 2006

Notes from the Minefield

United States Intervention in Lebanon, 1945-1958

Irene Gendzier

In the series History and Society of the Modern Middle East

https://doi.org/10.7312/gend14011

Overview
Contents

About this book

Irene Gendzier's critically acclaimed, wide-reaching analysis of post-World War II U.S. policy in Lebanon posits that the politics of oil and pipelines figured far more significantly in U.S. relations with Lebanon than previously believed. In 1958 the United States sent thousands of troops to shore up the Lebanese regime in the face of domestic opposition and civil war. The justification was preventing a coup in Iraq, but recently declassified documents show that the true objective was to protect America's commercial, political, and strategic interests in Beirut and the Middle East. By reevaluating U.S.-Lebanese relations within the context of America's collaborative intervention with the Lebanese ruling elite, Gendzier aptly demonstrates how oil, power, and politics drove U.S. policy and influenced the development of the state and the region. In her new preface, Gendzier discusses the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the remarkable continuity of U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to the present.

Author / Editor information

Irene L. Gendzier is professor of political science at Boston University and author of Development Against Democracy: Manipulating Political Change in the Third World.

Reviews

Sally Bland:
Notes from the Minefield is history at its best.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Maps and Illustrations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Preface to the 2006 Edition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xvii
Part I. The Setting of U.S. Policy
1. The Dynamic of Collaborative Intervention Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. U.S. Postwar Policy and the Middle East Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
3. Learning Lebanon: A Primer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
Part II. Formative Years in the Evolution of U.S. Policy: 1944–1952
4. Alternating Currents of Criticism and Conformity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
5. The Foundations of U.S. Policy, PACLIFT: Petroleum, Aviation, Commerce, Labor, Intelligence, and the Friendship Treaty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
6. Altered Circumstances and the Design of U.S. Political Strategy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Part III. The Eisenhower Administration and the Sham‘un Regime: A Policy of Information and Consent
7. Pressure Points and Priorities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
8. Lebanon: The “Bridgehead in the Orient” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
9. Realities of Power in the “Rear Area” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
10. Our Man in Beirut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
Part IV. Intervening Before Intervention
11. Civil War, May 1958 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
12. Doubt, Deliberation, and Preparation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	264
Part V. The Minefield Explodes: U.S. Military Intervention
13. 11,000 Sorties in Search of a Target Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
14. By Mutual Consent: July–October 1958 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	338
Epilogue: 1958 in Retrospect Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	423
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	445

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Edition: With a new preface
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 520
Illustrations
- Other: 3 maps

eBook

Published: November 7, 2006
ISBN: 9780231511605