US-Egypt Diplomacy under Johnson: Nasser, Komer, and the Limits of Personal Diplomacy

Description

Lyndon B. Johnson has been called an ‘accidental president.’ From his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, he inherited an administration full of bright, energetic, and ivy-league educated people - dubbed by one historian as ‘the best and the brightest.’ Among these Kennedy officials was a particularly driven National Security Council staffer named Robert Komer, who made it his personal mission to have the U.S. form better relations with Egypt’s President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, after diplomatic relations were nearly severed during the Eisenhower years. This book brings to light the diplomatic efforts of Robert Komer who through strategy and realpolitik was able to have an outsized influence over American foreign policy towards Egypt. Komer was a figure who should have been in the periphery, but instead was at times in the driver’s seat of American foreign policy. While Kennedy and Komer saw the benefit of having good relations with arguably the most powerful leader in the Middle East, Johnson did not share his predecessor’s enthusiasm for courting Nasser with large amounts of economic aid. Moreover, bilateral relations were further strained by a series of conflicts early on in Johnson’s presidency. Ultimately, the administration was left with people who did not share Kennedy/Komer’s enthusiasm for good relations with Egypt. The book chronicles three distinctive phases in U.S.-Egyptian relations under Johnson leading up to the outbreak of the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War - when Nasser suddenly reneged on his understanding with Kennedy not to provoke an Arab war against Israel. Appealing to scholars of Middle Eastern history and foreign policy, it reveals a new perspective on the causes of war that was to change the face of the Middle East. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note to the Reader Prologue: The Swerve Preface: The Argument and Themes of the Book Part One After Kennedy 1 Introduction: Kennedy’s Men 2 Komer’s War 3 Nasser’s New Frontier 4 Weapons and Bases 5 Enter Britain 6 Badeau’s Final Mission Part Two After Badeau 7 Starting Over with/in Cairo 8 Two Summits 9 Communication Breakdown 10 Congress Reacts 11 Komer’s Gamble 12 Johnson’s Reluctance 13 Rusk Takes Over 14 The $37 Million 15 Another Long Summer 16 Komer’s Final Campaign 17 Sadat’s Visit Part Three After Komer 18 Johnson’s Men 19 A New Policy 20 Nasser’s Last Stand 21 Cold Shoulders 22 US-Egypt Relations Unbound 23 Conclusion: Applied History Notes Prologue: The Swerve Preface: The Argument and Themes of the Book 1 Introduction: Kennedy’s Men 2 Komer’s War 3 Nasser’s New Frontier 4 Weapons and Bases 5 Enter Britain 6 Badeau’s Final Mission 7 Starting Over with/in Cairo 8 Two Summits 9 Communication Breakdown 10 Congress Reacts 11 Komer’s Gamble 12 Johnson’s Reluctance 13 Rusk Takes Over 14 The $37 Million 15 Another Long Summer 16 Komer’s Final Campaign 17 Sadat’s Visit 18 Johnson’s Men 19 A New Policy 20 Nasser’s Last Stand 21 Cold Shoulders 22 US-Egypt Relations Unbound 23 Conclusion: Applied History Index