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CIAO DATE: 5/5/2007
The History of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Michael Oren
March 2007
Abstract
The United States was born as a naval trading nation, and, two centuries before the oil boom, 20 percent of this trade was with the Middle East. The early American presence in the region was mainly in North Africa, where trading ships sailed to export American goods and to import carpets, nuts, and figs; along with these came fashion and even some architectural ideas. The trade routes to North Africa were also the hunting ground of Barbary corsairs, and European nations paid these pirates to protect their traders from attack. Some U.S. officials, such as Thomas Jefferson, opposed this sort of bribery and insisted that the United States build a naval force to protect its interest in maritime freedom. Meanwhile, John Adams spoke for those who preferred payoffs to building a navy. In the end, the former view prevailed -- and one of the arguments for the new U.S. Constitution was that a stronger federal government was needed to raise funds for just such a naval force.