British Military Intervention And The Struggle For Jordan

Within two years of their abortive invasion of the Suez Canal zone in 1956, British troops once again intervened in a major Middle Eastern country. The Jordan intervention of July 1958 took place despite the steady decline of the British position in the country over the previous three years. This book examines why the government led by Harold Macmillan remained ready to use military force to prop up the regime of King Hussein even though the United States had emerged as the main Western power in the Middle East after 1956. Incorporating a variety of archival material, Blackwell provides new historical insights into the origins of the Anglo-American use of military power to protect their interests in the Middle East.

Within two years of their abortive invasion of the Suez Canal zone in 1956, British troops once again intervened in a major Middle Eastern country. The Jordan intervention of July 1958 took place despite the steady decline of the British position in the country over the previous three years. This book examines why the government led by Harold Macmillan remained ready to use military force to prop up the regime of King Hussein even though the United States had emerged as the main Western power in the Middle East after 1956. Incorporating a variety of archival material, Blackwell provides new historical insights into the origins of the Anglo-American use of military power to protect their interests in the Middle East.

Drawing on a wealth of previously unseen documents, sourced by Freedom of Information requests, together with interviews with government and intelligence agency officials, Louise Kettle questions whether the British government has learned anything from its military interventions in the Middle East, from the 1950s to the 2016 Iraq Inquiry report.

This study uses the private papers of Glubb Pasha to rethink the end of Britain's imperial presence in the Middle East.

The revolutionary year of 1958 epitomizes the height of the social uprisings, military coups, and civil wars that erupted across the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-twentieth century. Amidst waning Anglo-French influence, growing US-USSR rivalry, and competition and alignments between Arab and non-Arab regimes and domestic struggles, this year was a turning point in the modern history of the Middle East. This multi and interdisciplinary book explores this pivotal year in its global, regional and local contexts and from a wide range of linguistic, geographic, academic specialties. The contributors draw on declassified and multilingual archives, reports, memoirs, and newspapers in thirteen country-specific chapters, shedding new light on topics such as the extent of Anglo-American competition after the Suez War, Turkey's efforts to stand as a key pillar in the regional Cold War, the internationalization of the Algerian War of Independence, and Iran and Saudi Arabia's abilities to weather the revolutionary storm that swept across the region. The book includes a foreword from Salim Yaqub which highlights the importance of Jeffrey G. Karam's collection to the scholarship on this vital moment in the political history of the modern middle east.

This book is a major and wide-ranging re-assessment of Anglo-American relations in the Middle Eastern context. It analyses the process of ending of empire in the Middle East from 1945 to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Based on original research into both British and American archival sources, it covers all the key events of the period, including the withdrawal from Palestine, the Anglo-American coup against the Musaddiq regime in Iran, the Suez Crisis and its aftermath, the Iraqi and Yemeni revolutions, and the Arab-Israeli conflicts. It demonstrates that, far from experiencing a ‘loss of nerve’ or tamely acquiescing in a transfer of power to the United States, British decision-makers robustly defended their regional interests well into the 1960s and even beyond. It also argues that concept of the ‘special relationship’ impeded the smooth-running of Anglo-American relations in the region by obscuring differences, stymieing clear communication, and practising self-deception on policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic who assumed a contiguity which all too often failed to exist. With the Middle East at the top of the contemporary international policy agenda, and recent Anglo-American interventions fuelling interest in empire, this is a timely book of importance to all those interested in the contemporary development of the region.

This volume is a general survey of the history of Jordan from ancient times to the present. The author covers the major events that took place in this region since ancient times. Starting with the history of the region in Biblical times, the author discusses the major developments in the ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Amon, which shared common borders with the Hebrew kingdoms. He then provides a detailed coverage of the events that took place during the Nabatean period. The author demonstrates how the character of this region had changed with the rise of Islam and the expansion of the Arabs and their encounter with the Byzantines. In addition, the author demonstrates how the rise of the Mamluk Sultanate affected the region. The author provides a detailed analysis explaining how the Hashemite Kingdom Jordan emerged and how the Ottomans and the British contributed to its rise. In addition to the political developments that took place in this region, the reader will become familiar with the economic, social, and cultural developments which contributed to the emergence of the modern Hashemite Kingdom. The book’s audience includes college undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, scholars, as well as lay readers with interest in this strategically important region. The book is based on primary and secondary sources written in several languages.

A towering figure in the history of Jordan, King Hussein reigned for nearly half a century, from his grandfather's assassination in 1953 to his own death in 1999. In this fascinating biography, Nigel Ashton recounts the eventful life of the king who not only survived but flourished amidst crisis after crisis as ruler of a poor desert nation surrounded by powerful and hostile neighbors. Hussein skillfully navigated complicated relationships with the British, his fellow Arab leaders, the new bordering state of Israel, masses of dispossessed Palestinians within his kingdom, every U.S. president from Eisenhower to Clinton, and every British prime minister from Churchill to Blair. This book illuminates the private man, his key relationships, and his achievements and disappointments as a central player in the tough world of Middle Eastern politics.Ashton has had unique access to King Hussein's private papers, including his secret correspondence with U.S., British, and Israeli leaders, and he has also conducted numerous interviews with members of Hussein's circle and immediate family. The resulting book brings new depth to our understanding of the popular and canny king while also providing new information about the wars of 1967 and 1973, President Reagan's role in the Iran-Contra affair, the evolution of the Middle East peace process, and much more.