The Arabists: Evolution of Policy Toward the Middle East
Modern Middle East
Fall 2002
Introduction
Many of the early Arabists came from Lebanon.
Their parents were either missionaries or professors at the American University in Beirut.
Earlier, their parents for most of their adult lives provided humanitarian service to the Arabs.
From this start a whole wave of American Middle East Area experts came from this group.
From those Humble Beginnings…
Talcott Seelye – Ambassador to Tunisia and Syria.
Bill Stoltzfus
David Zimmerman
Arthur and Ray Close – Intelligence Officers in the Middle East.
David Dodge
The First American Inroads
The First American to go and work with the Arabs was John Ledyard of Groton, CT in the late eighteenth century.
He had failed out of Dartmouth.
He only made as far as Cairo before he died.
The second effort came from students at Williams College led by Samuel J. Mills, in 1808.
Mills, and his fellow students, promised to bring the Good Word to the heathens in the Middle East
Wave of Protestant’s Go to the Middle East
Presbyterian
Congregationalist
Methodist
Baptist
Unitarian
Episcopalian
The Arrival in Beirut
The American missionaries arrived in Beirut in November 1823.
But these early American missionaries, the Birds and the Goodells, worked closely with the British.
Who were already there and were Protestants.
And Lebanon was part of Syria, not a separate state.
Plus they, like the British, had to contend with the French who were there for a 150 years working with the Maronite Christians.
Who Were the Maronites?
The name comes from the Fifth Century Hermit Saint, Maron.
Originally they were found in North Central Syria around the city of Hama.
They were a renegade branch of offshoot from the traditional Christians found in the Byzantine Empire.
Which was Greek Orthodoxy.
The Turks supported the Druze in order to control the region.
Along Came Daniel Bliss
A New Englander.
Protestant through and through.
Developed a militant dislike of diplomacy, since he believed diplomats, either British or American, would compromise principles for political advantage.
Founded the Syria Protestant College (The AUB).
The center of training for so many American Arabists.
The Grand Daddy for Arabists
When Lawrence went off into the desert wastes looking for Feisal.
He took a volume of Charles Doughty’s Travels in Arabia Deserta.
This was a 1,200 page odyssey of working and traveling to Arabia.
He was England’s first true Arabist.
Doughty’s Importance
His writings influenced a generation of other English thinkers.
Including T. E. Lawrence and his Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
His work gave Lawrence an idea of what to expect when he went into the same area in order to foment the Arab uprising.
But There Was Another…
Explorer who really captured people’s imaginations.
This was Sir Richard Francis Burton.
Who Kipling used as the central figure in his novel, Kim.
He spoke twenty-nine languages.
He the ability to "go unnoticed."
It was so pronounced that he was referred to as the "White Nigger" by many Englishmen.
Burton’s Achievements
He discovered and translated the Indian sex manual, Kama Sutra.
He translated The Thousand and One Nights.
He visited Mecca "as a Gypsy laborer."
But he was an intelligence officer for the British Crown.
Then There Was Lawrence…
He was known as "Ned" or "the Little Fellow" because of seize.
Because of his 5’51/2’ stature.
Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom was an improvement over Doughty’s work.
Principally because of Lawrence’s literary skills and the maelstrom of World War I.
He died in 1935 in a motorcycle accident.
T. E. Lawrence: An Enigma
At heart he was an Imperialist.
He favored the Balfour Declaration as a means of keeping the French out of Syria.
He championed the ill-fated negotiations between the Sherif of Mecca’s son, Emir Feisal, and Chaim Weizmann.
Lawrence despised both Turks and French equally.
Later, he supported the Hashemite claims after the war, and gave little thought to Abdul Aziz Idn Saud.
How important were the Hashemite clan?
They could trace their descent from the Prophet or so they claimed.
Feisal vs. Ibn Saud
Feisal came from the Hejaz, the sites of the Holy Places at Mecca and Medina.
Ibn Saud’s support came from central Arabia called the Najd.
The Najd was the region with the most fundamentalist Sunni Sect called Wahabis.
The only person who linked up with Ibn Saud was Jack Philby, who arrived in the region in 1916.
Gertrude Bell
Educated in Oxford.
In 1890 went to Teheran.
In time she headed the Arab Bureau in Mesopotamia.
She became a writer that influenced public opinion.
Her best known work was The Desert and the Sown.
She never returned to England and remained in Baghdad.
She wanted to make Iraq a model Arab state.
Introduction
American Arabists, Middle Eastern Area Experts came from the better area of American society.
Many went to the "Good Schools" – Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth – and rose to prominence in the State Department.
They were Arabists – someone who has accepted the Arab position in the Middle East.
In other words, they often were pro-Arab.
And opposed to the creation of Israel.
The regions that were the most important to them were Syria and Iraq.
The Case of Loy Henderson
He was a Russian Expert and spent considerable time in Moscow.
Then quit Moscow for Mosquito-ridden Baghdad.
The fear of the creation of an independent Israel was turning many Arab nationalists into supporters of the Third Reich.
Henderson was much like the earlier British experts.
He didn’t hate the Jews, he just liked the Arabs more.
Loy Henderson at the Assistant Secretary of State for NEA
He was not an idealist.
Nor did he have a vested interest in the region.
Yet he opposed the creation of Israel.
Since it would jeopardize American long-term security interests in the region.
The question he asked himself, "How many oil wells did the Jews have?"
Henderson did not think the U.S. could play it both ways.
Yet he was wrong – at least – the U.S. tried to play it both ways for as long as possible.
Loy Henderson was a Cold Warrior
When the Soviets moved troops to the Northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, Henderson called for action.
Explaining to the Truman Administration the need for action.
Of the proximity to Turkey, Iraq, and the Middle Eastern Oil.
Henderson would do the same for Greece and work on the Truman Doctrine.
A Professional Dilemma for Arabists
The problem involved "Localitis" or "Clientitis."
An dilemma that first was reported by British officials after World War I, when British agents developed sympathy for the area they worked.
Often at the expense of their national interests.
This has been come an issue in the U.S. State Department as well.
Where officials would support Arab issues at the expense of long-term U.S. national issues.
Loy Henderson: Consummate Foreign Policy Expert
Was not afraid to speak his mind, even though it was not what policymakers wanted to hear.
No one could accuse Loy Henderson of Localitis.
To Henderson it was simple – Was the policy objectives beneficial to the interests of the United States.
So recognition of Israel was a mistake in his book.
The Strange Case of Richard Parker
Parker was accused of "localitis."
Especially in the late 1960s.
When he fought a losing battle for Washington to take Egypt and Gamal Abdel Nasser seriously.
He was one of the few, if only friend, Nasser had in Washington.
Joseph Sisco, the new Assistant Secretary of State for NEA purged Parker to Morocco as DCM in the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Parker’s Other Assignments
Became U.S. Ambassador to Algeria.
Then Ambassador to Lebanon in 1977.
He ended his career as U.S. Ambassador to Morocco in 1979 after being considered persona non grata for reporting on opposition to King Hassan.
His real fault was telling the King’s long-time friend, the Shah of Iran, he was not welcomed in the U.S.
Parker does have a beef with the Carter Administration for not closing the U.S. Embassy in Teheran before the hostage crisis.
Israel and the Arabists
Prior Presidents – Eisenhower and Kennedy – favored the status quo in the Middle East.
That all changed with the Six Day War (1967).
When Nasser blockaded the Tiran Straits (Gulf of Aqaba) in 1967, most Arabists opposed sending in the U.S. Navy.
By not becoming engaged, Washington gave the Israelis the opening to preempt the Arabs.
The Six-Day War as a Disaster for the Arabists
Israel was strengthened.
Arab states were humiliated.
U.S. Embassies were closed.
One American diplomat, Andrew Killgore, called it "disaster for the Foreign Service."
For the remaining Arabists, the Middle East was "now center stage" of American policy.
Yet the key players were not them.
Let the Purge Begin…
With Richard Nixon in the White House, Richard Rogers as Secretary of State lost out to the new head of the NSC – Henry Kissinger.
Kissinger looked for men to get things done and write reports that were "readable."
Enter Joseph Sisco and Roy Atherton – men Henry Kissinger could count on to get the job done.
One of the first things Sisco did was to break up the cozy atmosphere within the NEA Desk.
The Victims
Rodger Davis was kicked upstairs.
His weakness – he could not write reports to the satisfaction of Henry the K.
Then was reassigned to the Ambassador of Cyprus were he was assassinated in 1974.
Any Arabist hostile to Israel was removed including Richard Parker and Robert Munn.
The Most Bitter Arabist of All
Goes to Andrew Killgore.
He entered the FSO after working in Germany following World War II.
In the 1950s he volunteered for Arab language training.
His first posting was to Jordan and visited numerous Palestinian villages.
He developed a visceral dislike for the Israelis in general and Jews in particular.
In 1972 he was sent to Teheran as DCM and then in 1974, when he thought he was to be named Ambassador to Bahrein, he was sent to New Zealand.
He blamed the "Jewish Lobby" for this posting.
Killgore Goes Off the Reservation
Soon after retiring in 1980, Killgore goes to work as a lobbyist for Arab causes.
He soon links up with the Liberty Lobby, a notorious anti-Semitic group.
Then he edited The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, the most pro-Arab and anti-Israeli articles in the U.S.
Once Killgore argued that if the Jews did not come to Palestine, then Hitler would not have murdered them.
Horan of Arabia
He was probably the best Arabist of the lot.
He completed the Arabic Language course in 12 months.
It normally took 21 months to finish.
He is also fluent in Spanish, German, and French.
He served in Jordan during the "Black September" events in Amman in 1970.
And would go on to rescue the Ethiopian Jews, the Falasha in November 1984, during OPERATION MOSES.
The Cerebral Lawrence
His mother, Margaret Robinson Hume, first married a dashing Persian diplomat Abdollah Entenzan.
Hume Horan was born shortly after his parents divorced.
He took his stepfather’s name and was proclaimed himself a part of WASP America.
But he never hide his background and it would become a problem if his Arab hosts knew of his Iranian origins.
He was destined for great deeds.
The Fall of Hume Horan
In 1987, Horan was selected as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Washington was not going to make the same mistake with the Saudis as they did with the Shah.
The Saudis never liked him because he could figure them out.
Washington discovered that the Saudis had purchased intermediate range ballistic missiles from China that could hit Israel.
Horan was to notify King Fahd of how displeased Washington was of this turn of events.
Horan did not know that Prince Bandar had already compromised his position earlier.
This was done during the presidency of Ronald Reagan of all people.
Iraq: The Last Bastion for the Arabists
Outside of Syria, Iraq was the darling of the FSO Arabist community.
However from 1967 to 1980, the U.S. had little contact with Baghdad.
And when the American interest section opened, they even had less.
Iraqis were frightened to talk with the Americans because of the nature of the regime.
What was the Guiding Principle of American-Iraqi Relations?
The Enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Iraq was at war with Iran.
That was simple.
When Saddam used chemicals – so what.
It was only the Kurds.
Then the Bush Administration sent a careerist to Baghdad, April Glaspie.
A careerist of the worst sorts.
Who is April Glaspie?
Born in Vancouver, BC in 1942.
Graduates from Johns Hopkins in 1965.
Posted to Egypt and developed a reputation for making Henry Kissinger happy – like finding a laundry service for her boss.
Wore a pigtail, had a high pitch laugh, no makeup, and thought you can have a dialogue with Saddam.
And is sent to Baghdad in 1989.
April Meets Saddam
April Glaspie was summoned to meet Saddam on July 25, 1990.
Two weeks before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
She went without a note taker.
This was her first meeting.
The State Department’s instructions to Glaspie was to appease Saddam.
She did tell Saddam that Washington had no position on "Arab to Arab" conflicts.
But worse, she fawned over the Iraqi dictator.
This marked the low point for the Arabists in the State Department.
But were do they go from here?