In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, responding to the failure of the Western nations to help finance the building of the Aswan Dam on the Nile River, nationalized the Suez Canal, a private company owned primarily by British and French shareholders.

In retaliation, the British and French governments, while keeping their American ally in the dark, fell back on an earlier agreement stipulating that in the event of an Israeli-Egyptian war, British and French troops would occupy the Canal Zone. Acting in collusion with the British and French, Israel invaded Egypt, occupying the Sinai Peninsula. The ploy fooled no one. The United States stated that it would support Egypt if it was subject to aggression. The Soviet Union warned the three invaders that unless they withdrew immediately, they would be targeted by Soviet missiles. Such international condemnation of their actions, along with powerful opposition at home, forced the British and French to withdraw within a month. The following year, Israel withdrew from the Sinai. The ignominious defeat of Britain and France--they had not only failed, they had looked foolish in the process--seriously damaged their prestige and power in the Middle East.

As a result, the Eisenhower administration, operating at the height of the Cold War, feared a vacuum of power, into which the Soviets would step. The president therefore promulgated the Eisenhower Doctrine, asserting the determination "to protect the territorial integrity of . . . nations requesting such aid from any nation controlled by International Communism."

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