AMSCO 8.7 America as a World Power

Overview

AMSCO Topic 8.7, "America as a World Power," covers how the Cold War pulled the United States into the developing world between the late 1940s and 1980, from CIA coups in Iran and Guatemala to the Suez Crisis, OPEC oil shocks, the Camp David Accords, and the Iran hostage crisis. The big idea: as 37 new nations emerged from European colonies between 1947 and 1960, both superpowers competed for their loyalty, and the U.S. used foreign aid, covert action, and military intervention to keep communism out of the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. This chapter sits at the heart of Period 8 (1945-1980) and connects directly to the broader Cold War story in 8.2.

Decolonization and the Third World

Between 1947 and 1960, 37 new nations gained independence from European empires (mostly Britain, France, and the Netherlands). India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) in 1949, and Ghana threw off British rule in 1957, with many African nations following.

These "Third World" nations (the label for developing countries outside the Western and Communist blocs) usually lacked stable political and economic institutions. Their need for outside help made them Cold War battlegrounds. Both superpowers wanted them as allies.

Foreign Aid as a Cold War Weapon

Foreign aid was America's primary tool for winning over developing nations. The shift was dramatic: until 1952, most U.S. aid went to Europe, but by 1960 more than 90 percent went to Third World nations.

• Some aid was no-strings-attached grant money
• More often it came as low-interest loans with restrictions, which poorer nations resented
• Despite the aid, countries like India and Egypt refused to pick a side, following a policy of "nonalignment"

Nonalignment frustrated American policymakers, who tended to see neutrality as suspiciously close to communism.

The Middle East: Oil, Israel, and Intervention

The U.S. tried to walk a tightrope in the Middle East: stay friendly with oil-rich Arab states while supporting Israel, created in 1948 under UN auspices after civil war divided the British mandate of Palestine. Israel's Arab neighbors, including Egypt, had fought unsuccessfully to prevent the Jewish state from forming. That tension shaped every crisis in this chapter.

Covert Action in Iran (1953)

Eisenhower's administration (1953-1961) leaned heavily on covert action because secret intervention was cheaper and less controversial with voters than sending troops. In 1953, the CIA helped overthrow Iran's government after it tried to nationalize foreign oil company holdings. The coup restored Reza Pahlavi as shah (monarch), and in return the shah gave the West favorable oil prices and bought enormous amounts of American arms. Remember this one: it comes back to haunt the U.S. in 1979.

The Suez Crisis (1956)

Egypt's Arab nationalist leader, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, asked the U.S. for money to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile. The U.S. refused, partly because Egypt threatened Israel's security, so Nasser turned to the Soviets, who offered limited financing. Still needing funds, Nasser seized and nationalized the British- and French-owned Suez Canal in July 1956.

Losing the canal threatened Western Europe's oil supply line, so Britain, France, and Israel launched a surprise attack and retook it. Here's the twist: Eisenhower was furious that his own allies kept him in the dark. He sponsored a UN resolution condemning the invasion, and under U.S. and world pressure, the invaders withdrew.

The Eisenhower Doctrine and OPEC

After Suez, the U.S. replaced Britain and France as the leading Western power in the Middle East but faced growing Soviet influence in Egypt and Syria. In 1957, the Eisenhower Doctrine pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism. Eisenhower first applied it in 1958, sending 14,000 marines to Lebanon to prevent a civil war between Christians and Muslims.

In 1960, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran joined Venezuela to form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), coordinating oil policies to expand their political power. Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil, Arab nationalism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would trouble American presidents for decades.

Yom Kippur War and the Oil Embargo (1973)

On October 6, 1973 (the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur), Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack on Israel to recover lands lost in the Six-Day War of 1967. Nixon put U.S. nuclear forces on alert and airlifted almost $2 billion in arms to Israel. The tide turned quickly and Israel won.

The price of supporting Israel was steep. Arab OPEC members embargoed oil sold to Israel's supporters, causing:

• A worldwide oil shortage and long gas lines in the U.S.
• Runaway inflation, lost manufacturing jobs, and a lower standard of living (blue-collar workers were hit hardest)
• A consumer shift from big American cars to fuel-efficient Japanese cars, costing U.S. auto workers more than 225,000 jobs
• Congressional responses: a 55-mph national speed limit and approval of the Alaska oil pipeline

No government program fixed the sluggish economy or high inflation, which lasted through the end of the decade.

Camp David Accords (1978)

Arranging peace between Egypt and Israel was perhaps Carter's single greatest achievement as president. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat took the first bold step by visiting Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Jerusalem in 1977. Carter then hosted both leaders at Camp David, Maryland, acting as intermediary while they negotiated the Camp David Accords in September 1978.

The 1979 peace treaty that followed made Egypt the first Arab nation to recognize Israel; in return, Israel withdrew from the Sinai territory taken in 1967. The PLO and most of the Arab world opposed the treaty, but it was a real step toward negotiated peace.

Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)

The Middle East also handed Carter his greatest frustration. Anti-American feeling in Iran had simmered since the 1953 CIA coup. The shah's autocratic rule and westernization policies alienated much of the population, and in 1979 Islamic fundamentalists led by the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew him.

Iranian oil exports halted, causing the decade's second worldwide oil shortage. Then, in November 1979, after the U.S. let the shah enter the country for medical treatment, Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran and held more than 50 Americans hostage. Carter's April 1980 rescue mission failed when helicopters broke down over the Iranian desert. For many Americans, the crisis symbolized a failed presidency. The hostages came home on January 27, 1981, after 14 months in captivity.

Latin America: Anti-Communism Over Democracy

The pattern in Latin America matches a key Period 8 theme: the U.S. supported non-Communist regimes regardless of how democratic they actually were. In 1954, Eisenhower approved a CIA covert action that overthrew a leftist government in Guatemala that threatened American business interests. Backing corrupt, often ruthless dictators fueled anti-American feelings, visible in populist attacks on the motorcades of Vice Presidents Nixon and later Nelson Rockefeller during Latin American visits.

Kennedy's Approach

Kennedy (1961-1963) tried softer tools alongside hard ones:

• The Peace Corps (1961) recruited young American volunteers to give technical aid to developing countries
• The Alliance for Progress (1961) promoted land reform and economic development in Latin America

But CIA operations kept stoking resentment, including the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and plots to assassinate leftist leaders like Fidel Castro.

Johnson and the Return of the "Big Stick"

Johnson (1963-1969) judged Western Hemisphere neighbors by their anti-communism, not their commitment to democracy. He let the Alliance for Progress wither, backed a right-wing military coup in Brazil in 1964, and sent U.S. troops to the Dominican Republic to prevent another Communist takeover in the Caribbean. His doctrine, that the U.S. would unilaterally block any Communist government in the Western Hemisphere, reminded observers of Theodore Roosevelt's "Big Stick" policy.

When Panamanians rioted against U.S. control of the Canal Zone, Johnson responded firmly but later agreed to negotiations. Carter finished the job: in 1978 the Senate ratified a treaty gradually transferring the Panama Canal to Panama by 2000. Critics blasted Carter's "giveaway" in the 1980 election.

Africa and Human Rights Diplomacy

Newly independent African nations faced especially hard nation-building challenges. When civil war broke out in the Congo shortly after Belgium granted it independence in 1960, the U.S. feared a Communist victory and helped the UN quell the insurrection. The Communist threat was overblown, and the intervention struck African nationalists as more White colonialism.

Angola and the End of Backing Apartheid Governments

Africa ranked low among Nixon's priorities until the mid-1970s, and his administration actually strengthened ties with White minority governments in Portuguese Angola, Rhodesia, and South Africa. The CIA spent tens of millions on covert action to keep Communist-backed rebels from taking power in Angola. After Nixon resigned, Congress pulled the funding, and in 1976 the Soviet- and Cuban-backed party took control. After Angola, the U.S. stopped backing White minority governments with segregationist (apartheid) policies in Africa.

Carter's Human Rights Policy

Human rights was the hallmark of Carter's foreign policy. He appointed Andrew Young, an African American, as U.S. ambassador to the UN, and together they opposed the oppression of Black majorities by all-White governments in South Africa and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). In Latin America, Carter cut off U.S. aid to Argentina and Chile over human rights violations by their military governments.

Limits of a Superpower

The chapter ends on a sobering note. In 1969, American astronauts walked on the moon, a genuine triumph. But the 1970s also brought Watergate, a stagnant economy, and the fall of South Vietnam to communism. Foreign economic competition, oil shortages, rising unemployment, and high inflation forced Americans to realize that even the world's leading superpower had to adjust to a less-manageable world. The U.S. cut back foreign aid and seemed to be losing the competitive economic edge that had anchored its political and military strength since World War II.

Key Terms to Know

Practice and Next Steps

Pair these AMSCO notes with the 8.7 America as a World Power course topic guide for the College Board's framing of the same material. The big skill here is tracing change over time in U.S. military and diplomatic responses, so know which president did what and how policy shifted from covert action to human rights diplomacy.

This chapter connects forward to AMSCO 8.8 on the Vietnam War, the biggest Cold War intervention of all, and backward to the Cold War origins in 8.2. To test yourself, run through APUSH multiple choice practice or write a timed response with FRQ practice and instant scoring. For quick term review, the APUSH key terms glossary covers everything in the table above.