ABSTRACT
This chapter explores US strategic policy in the Middle East by focusing on the creation of a regional pro-West defense pact, specifically the seminal 1955 Baghdad Pact (BP), the role of the United States in its formation, and the repercussions of its consummation. From a Western perspective, the role of the BP was to defend the Middle East from the Soviet "menace". In September 1951, the Middle East Command (MEC) was launched as an allied anti-Soviet pact comprising the United States, Great Britain, France, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The revision of MEC, which took place during the first half of 1952, resulted in a joint US-British project to establish a planning organization located in Cyprus, called the Middle East Defense Organization (MEDO). Following the Turco-Iraqi statement, the United States attempted to advance a two-pronged policy: supporting the build-up of a realistic defense organization, including Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran and advancing an Arab-Israeli settlement through Operation Alpha.
