AFTER SUEZ
Description
A British Prime Minister urging a sceptical public to war in the Middle East. A project both desperate and ambitious to radically change the political landscape of the Arab world.
With Bush and Blair's reputations ever more damaged by their venture in Iraq, the Suez Crisis of g6, which brought down government and changed the pattern of world politics, has taken on a new relevance. Fifty yeaafter Anthony Eden's decision to take on Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of Britain's most respected foreign affaicommentatorevisits this cautionary tale of power over reach. Bringing to life the mood and the personalities of the post-war scene, Martin Woollacott shows how Suez changed the Middle East, Britain, and the world.
He portrays the hubris of British foreign policy-making in the fifties, and looks at how the duplicitous collusion with France and Israel came about, as the two European states strove to preserve their influence in the Third World. He describes how Britain's course was fundamentally altered by Suez. The humiliating defeat hastened social change at home, where Eden's failure came symbolize the obsolescence of traditional authority. Abroad, Britain realized it was from now on going to have to be content with the role of junior partner to the United States. America's agenda in the Middle East, however, turned out to be very similar to that Britain before it. Woollacott argues that Suez, although superficially offering a lesson the limits of Western power, helped set in motion forces which were to lead in time to the American and British occupation of Iraq. After Suez is the first exploration of the legacy of the crisis, and of its relationship to the political quagmire that is today's Iraq.
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Book Details
- ISBN: 1845111761
- Categories:
- Format: Hardback
- Publication Date: 2006
- Number of Pages: 166
- Author:
- Publisher: I B TAURIS CO LTD
- Language: English
- Weight: 0.49 g
