The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 by Damms Richard;

Author:Damms, Richard;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

CHAPTER FIVE

EXPANDING THE COLD WAR

Just as Eisenhower experienced mounting domestic difficulties during his second term, so too did his administration encounter increasing international problems. In the oil-rich Middle East, the Anglo-French débâcle at Suez not only strained relations among the Western allies but also opened the door for the expansion of Soviet influence. The Eisenhower administration sought to contain communist penetration in the region, but seemed to conflate Arab nationalism with communism. No sooner did the administration direct its attention to that area than a second crisis flared up in the Taiwan Strait over the offshore islands. In the aftermath of the Sputniks, moreover, the United States and its allies had to deal with an increasingly belligerent Nikita Khrushchev, who tried to parlay Soviet achievements in rocketry into a propaganda and diplomatic advantage over the West. The Soviet leader tested the Western resolve to defend West Berlin and undertook an economic aid offensive in the Third World. In Latin America, Fidel Castro led a successful revolution against the pro-American Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, and pursued an increasingly provocative and independent foreign policy. Despite these confrontations, Eisenhower refused to give up hope for a limited détente with the Soviet Union, especially in the area of arms control. By the last year of his presidency, there seemed to be a prospect for a genuine breakthrough. Ultimately, however, Eisenhower’s inability to build consensus within his own administration doomed the nuclear arms control efforts, and the shooting down of an American spy plane over the Soviet Union scotched the long-anticipated Paris summit. By the time he left office, Eisenhower had managed to keep the peace, but he had failed to ease Cold War tensions significantly and bequeathed a series of unresolved international difficulties for his successor.

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