The Suez Crisis: A Historical Analysis of Cold War Implications

This research paper delves into the Suez Crisis, a significant event in Middle Eastern history, focusing on its origins, the involvement of major world powers like the UK, France, the USA, and Russia, and its impact on the Cold War. It explores the controversies surrounding the crisis, the misconceptions about its genesis, and its deep impact on countries like Egypt and Israel, highlighting the economic and political ramifications. The paper analyzes the war's launch by the UK, France, and Israel against Egypt, the role of the U.S. President, and the shifting dynamics of international relations. It examines the implications of the Suez War, including the rise of pan-Arabic ideologies, the strengthening of relations between Egypt and Russia, and the decline of European influence in the Middle East. Furthermore, the paper discusses the Eisenhower Doctrine and the strategies employed by the USA and Russia to gain influence in the region, ultimately shedding light on the lasting consequences of the crisis on world politics.

Running Head: THE SUEZ CRISIS
THE SUEZ CRISIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Introduction:
The Suez Crisis is one of the most popular and important incidents to the Middle Eastern
history. The research paper specializes on the how the Suez Crisis took place and what is its
significance to the context of Cold War. Always there have been controversies that popped up
due to the conspiracy that has been made in the past by the three first world countries UK, USA
and Russia. The Cold War between the USA and Russia is a much stigmatized tension that grew
after the World Wars. The paper projects how the Suez Crisis took place. There have been many
misconceptions based on the origin of the crisis. This crisis had a deep impact on the Middle
Eastern countries. Still now tension among the countries is high and there is no peaceful or
friendly atmosphere that resides among them. Countries like Egypt, Israel etc. has a deep seated
rivalry among them. Due to this the economic crisis is also affected and there are a lot of
problems that popped up after it. This made the Middle Eastern countries poorer to that of the
other countries. They were devoid of any commercial gains or any of the taxes that was received
from the Suez Canal. This was actually exploitation of the countries; done just to gain benefits
from the poor countries. The Middle Eastern countries have not yet recovered from this blow and
they have not improved or developed yet. The depletion of resources from these countries has
resulted to being dependent on other countries for sustenance. Therefore there have a lot of
problems giving rise to other problems, in a chain method, making the countries thrive and the
citizens helpless.1 This research paper focuses on bringing about the situation, crisis and the
aftermath of the Suez War, reflecting upon the impact of it on world politics and the inclusion of
Cold War in it. It will be highlighting events from the past that were significant and also that
played a significant role in the Suez Crisis.
1 Myers, Elizabeth. "Suez: A Crisis of British Identity Interrogating the narrative of British strength in the press
coverage during the 1956 Suez Crisis." (2018).

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Discussion:
The war of Suez was more or less a choice, and it was simultaneously launched by the
countries of United Kingdom France and Israel. All the wars were directed to the United States
of America. The U.S. President, Dwight Eisenhower led the wars affecting the international
relations and projected into promoting America to a higher level. This also shaped the American
mode of foreign policy in the modern age that is by manipulating and using the weaker options
to outrun them by using stronger allies against them. Though the President of America was not
willing to go into out and out war but he also exercised his power by recommending and
invoking the considerable Article II that granted powers to influence and get involved in the
plans of other countries. Thus the prime European countries France and the United Kingdoms,
relying on America’s nuclear power start showing interest in the Suez matter and gradually gets
actively involved in it. But UK being close to US was ready to mobilize its own constitutional
regime to undermine the war efforts and the gains were expected to be reaped by the
belligerents.2
Egypt thus faced numerous attacks on behalf of the United States. This resulted into the
acquisition over the control of the Suez and resulted into multiple wars. Thus the Countries
fighting over the Suez with Egypt had to fight for holding their command over Suez with the
other two countries as well.3 This resulted into a fight of four countries over holding their rights
over the Suez. Thus the number of wars was many and constant instigation of America made the
other countries more involved into the matter.4 The first war was fought on October 29, 1956, as
Israel launched the attack and captured the Sinai Peninsula invading it completely. Israel seizing
2 Bogdanor, Vernon. "Suez deconstructed: an interactive study in crisis, war, and peacemaking." (2019): 211-212.
3 Bogdanor, Vernon. "Suez deconstructed: an interactive study in crisis, war, and peacemaking." (2019): 211-212.
4 Chou, Shih-Yu. "Constructing National Interests: Narrating the Suez Crisis." International Critical Thought 8, no. 3
(2018): 453-467.

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the land made it first to receive a clearance letter from both the governments of France and the
UK. It was made clear to stay 10 miles away from the land of Suez and the site.5 Thus the both
the countries Israel and Egypt became prone to the other powerful countries UK and France. The
war was thus more of a preventive war rather than being a war of self-defense. The target was to
re-establish the command of the European countries over the Egyptian lands and also the Middle
Eastern countries.
Due to this Israel, which was already separated from the other Middle Eastern countries
and didn’t had any friendly relations with them, Israel was marginalized further and became
prone to the threat of British and French powers. But its grievances against Egypt stayed within,
since Israel was also a country lying aside of the Suez Canal but didn’t get any revenue from it,
whereas only Egypt received a huge amount of revenue as it was the only country that had the
right for it. Israel kept on invading Egypt by organizing terrorist activities. The territories of
Egypt like the Gaza Strip and the Straits of Tiran were frequently invaded and also were kept in
control by the Israelites. This gave the European powerhouses the chance to declare war against
Egypt as they were looking for a reason to seize the land and take control over it. Thus the
terrorist attacks done by the Israelites came handy for the British and the French. 6
The war was planned in Paris and carried forward in London finally deciding to handle
the outcome of the war. Israel was made to invade the country of Egypt first and then being
alarmed by the situation and as Israel’s seeking of help the European powerhouses would get
involved in the war, and thus the British and the French will be able to introduce their power and
5 Fanani, Ahmad Fuad. "THE SUEZ CRISIS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE POST-
WAR ERA." KAIS 28, no. 1 (2018).
6 Lomas, Daniel WB. "The official history of the Joint Intelligence Committee, volume 1: from the approach of the
Second World War to the Suez Crisis." (2015): 148-149.

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rule, occupying the Suez completely.7 On the other hand Egypt took the advantage of the
degrading relation between France and Algeria. Algeria was trying to break free from the
clutches of France, wanting to be called a free state. Egypt sought help from Algeria and invited
to take part and become an ally. The Algerian rebels and the revolutionists were supported and
encouraged by the government of Egypt.8 Thus the war was fought but the outcome was not as
expected. The inclusion of Russia with the Middle Eastern countries changed the result
completely. The Middle Eastern countries remained as they were but the powerhouses Europe
were diminished.
The implication of the Suez War was basically set for the rivalry between USA and
Russia. The supremacy of power led to the hunger for power even more. The Cold War was
completely based on the increase of power and for maintaining high security and defense
mechanisms. Increase in artillery for the motive of having a better arsenal.9 The envy between
the two countries regarding their arsenal and power was the main reason for which both and
USA and Russia were focused on increasing their power so that they cannot be subdued by other
countries. Hence other countries in the world became objects of their sport. They Suez War
remain as a great example for the domination and manipulation of other countries to satisfy their
own needs. 10
The matter slowly started to be worse as the effect of Cold War was falling on the
situation giving a dark shadow all over the world. The tension was building as the country of
Hungary was tending to be free and Russia was exercising its power to keep the situation under
7 Parker, Chad H. "The 1956 Suez War and the New World Order in the Middle East: Exodus in Reverse." The
Historian 80, no. 2 (2018): 360.
8 Steed, Danny. British Strategy and Intelligence in the Suez Crisis. Springer, 2016.
9 Neff, Ryan P. "The Suez Crisis of 1956: The End of British Influence & Imperialism." (2015).
10 Saltzman, Ilai Z. "Making war, thinking history: David Ben-Gurion, analogical reasoning and the Suez Crisis."
Israel Affairs 22, no. 1 (2016): 45-68.

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control. On the other hand the president of USA, Dwight Eisenhower started promoting his party
for the election campaigns to be elected for the second time of being the President of USA. This
was a very crucial moment as both the power houses of the world USA and Russia, were
increasing their resources and the Cold war was building up. Due to the Cold War the exercise of
each other became very visible and exposing. In the Suez War as America was having the upper-
hand for having UK and France as its allies. Egypt sought the Soviets for help. And Russia found
this very opportunity for ideally taking the lead from USA to head the Cold War. 11
Thus exercised its power fully and gained competence over America. After the Suez War
Egyptian policy gained an external dimension. The Suez crisis gave rise to the spread of pan-
Arabic ideologies ultimately unifying the two countries- Syria and Egypt. This ultimately created
the United Arabic Republican in 1958, resulting in the revival of the Palestinian Nationalist
Movement. Thus the unification and the friendly relations between the countries was restored. 12
The Suez Crisis also increased the relation between and Egypt and Russia. It also
improved the state of the Arabic countries and also influenced highly on the policies of the
Arabian states with the USSR. The significant result of the Suez War, was that the influence and
the domination of the European powerhouses over the Middle Eastern Countries were
diminished.13 The European countries always dominated and resisted the actions of the Middle
Eastern countries. The Suez Crisis became a perfect opportunity to regain their lost glory and
essence of domination. Therefore both UK and France were waiting for this long cherished
opportunity. UK being a favorite of USA was on the safe hands and relied completely on their
11 Crowcroft, Barnaby. "Egypt's Other Nationalists and the Suez Crisis of 1956." The Historical Journal 59, no. 1
(2016): 253-285.
12 Crowcroft, Barnaby. "Egypt's Other Nationalists and the Suez Crisis of 1956." The Historical Journal 59, no. 1
(2016): 253-285.
13 Lahav, Pnina. "The Suez Crisis of 1956 and Its Aftermath: A Comparative Study of Constituons, Use of Force,
Diplomacy and International Relations." BUL Rev. 95 (2015): 1297.

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power to curb the Middle Eastern countries. But the influence of the Soviet power was a hurdle
and even though US tried to exercise diplomatic and economic pressures over Britain, but it
failed and the Suez crisis marked the complete suppression of the power of the European
countries. Thus the countries of Britain and France were out of options other than to retract. This
made them realize that they cannot rely on the US for nuclear help and this also motivated them
for developing their own nuclear strategies and increasing their power even more. Thus the Suez
Crisis is significant for the European powers as well. They had the realization of their position in
the world. And they understood that they have to stand on their own. Their economic balance
also got disrupted as they invested a lot of money for the Suez War. The political situation also
got very complicated and the harmony was disrupted in the two countries. The nuclear power
development was the most important factor that made the European countries dependent on the
US.14
America losing the upper hand and control over the European countries and also the Suez
War was not ready to give, it tried to regain and hold its supremacy. Soon after the war, US
President, Dwight Eisenhower, presented a doctrine named after him- The Eisenhower Doctrine
aiming at the restricting the Soviet influence and its increasing influence and development of
friendly relationship with the Middle Eastern countries.15 The US applied the strategy of
providing help and also to increase the stability of the Middle Eastern states, by passing this
Doctrine. US tried to win the hearts of the Middle Easterners by supplying them sustenance with
food and daily goods. The US offered over 200 million dollars.16 They recommended the Middle
14 Lesch, David W. "The 1957 American-Syrian Crisis: Globalist Policy in a Regional Reality." In The Middle East
and the United States, pp. 77-92. Routledge, 2018.
15 Moeller, Esther. "The Suez Crisis of 1956 as a moment of transnational humanitarian engagement." European
Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 23, no. 1-2 (2016): 136-153.
16 Bell, Sam R., and Carla Martinez Machain. "Democracy, Transparency, and Secrecy in Crisis." Foreign Policy
Analysis 14, no. 4 (2018): 592-602.

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Eastern states for the maintaining and stabilizing their economy. US also offered for federal
protection to those who were willing to accept the assistance against the Soviet Threat.17 Thus
the Cold War was still going on, by increasing allies and establishing friendly relations by giving
help. Thus due to Suez Crisis the prime powerhouses of the world- USA and Russia became
more aware of the existence of the Middle Eastern countries and concentrated on increasing their
supremacy and power, therefore both the countries tried to win over the trust of the Middle
Eastern countries and extend their allied forces.
Conclusion:
The result of the Suez War was very drastic and deeply impacted on the Middle Eastern
countries. The European countries were moved aside they depleted out of the resources. The
economy of the countries of UK and France fell and there was no help that was provided by the
supporting country; USA. This diminished both the country’s status being the European power
houses and they were reduced to the grounds18.
The influence of the Cold War surged the matter of the Suez War. The countries
expecting to gain command over the Suez was actually working in favor of other two countries
that is USA and Russia. There Cold War happening underneath everyone’s eyes and therefore it
was not easy to analyze its effect or influence. The world politics suffered a greater impact due to
thus as the countries became aware of the situation. The dependence of power and defiance for
power knits the crisis of Suez altogether.
17 Bassiouni, M. Cherif. "Suez 1956: International Crisis and the Role of Law." DePaul Law Review 24, no. 4
(2015): 1070.
18 Maccaferri, Marzia. "British intellectuals and the European idea after the Suez crisis (1956): narrating Europe
between history and politics." The Journal of British Identities 1, no. 1 (2017): 2469.

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References:
Bassiouni, M. Cherif. "Suez 1956: International Crisis and the Role of Law." DePaul Law
Review 24, no. 4 (2015): 1070.
Bell, Sam R., and Carla Martinez Machain. "Democracy, Transparency, and Secrecy in Crisis."
Foreign Policy Analysis 14, no. 4 (2018): 592-602.
Bogdanor, Vernon. "Suez deconstructed: an interactive study in crisis, war, and peacemaking."
(2019): 211-212.
Chou, Shih-Yu. "Constructing National Interests: Narrating the Suez Crisis." International
Critical Thought 8, no. 3 (2018): 453-467.
Crowcroft, Barnaby. "Egypt's Other Nationalists and the Suez Crisis of 1956." The Historical
Journal 59, no. 1 (2016): 253-285.
Fanani, Ahmad Fuad. "the suez crisis and its significance for the evolution of the post-war era."
Kais 28, no. 1 (2018).
Lahav, Pnina. "The Suez Crisis of 1956 and Its Aftermath: A Comparative Study of Constituons,
Use of Force, Diplomacy and International Relations." BUL Rev. 95 (2015): 1297.
Lesch, David W. "The 1957 American-Syrian Crisis: Globalist Policy in a Regional Reality." In
The Middle East and the United States, pp. 77-92. Routledge, 2018
Lomas, Daniel WB. "The official history of the Joint Intelligence Committee, volume 1: from the
approach of the Second World War to the Suez Crisis." (2015): 148-149.

9
THE SUEZ CRISIS
Maccaferri, Marzia. "British intellectuals and the European idea after the Suez crisis (1956):
narrating Europe between history and politics." The Journal of British Identities 1, no. 1 (2017):
2469.
Moeller, Esther. "The Suez Crisis of 1956 as a moment of transnational humanitarian
engagement." European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 23, no. 1-2 (2016): 136-
153.
Myers, Elizabeth. "Suez: A Crisis of British Identity Interrogating the narrative of British
strength in the press coverage during the 1956 Suez Crisis." (2018).
Neff, Ryan P. "The Suez Crisis of 1956: The End of British Influence & Imperialism." (2015).
Parker, Chad H. "The 1956 Suez War and the New World Order in the Middle East: Exodus in
Reverse." The Historian 80, no. 2 (2018): 360.
Saltzman, Ilai Z. "Making war, thinking history: David Ben-Gurion, analogical reasoning and the
Suez Crisis." Israel Affairs 22, no. 1 (2016): 45-68.
Steed, Danny. British Strategy and Intelligence in the Suez Crisis. Springer, 2016.

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