This book examines US foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the region’s key role in the practice and evolution of American exceptionalism. The political developments in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, gave to the US opportunities to express, in the most explicit way, its anti-colonialism, the fervent support of open and democratic societies, and its willingness to openly confront tyranny and oppression whenever this was possible (or necessary) for American interests. Since that time, the region has been a testing ground for the core elements of American foreign policy deployed worldwide. The monograph shows the contributions of the United States during critical moments in the region, such as the First Barbary War (1801-1805), the introduction of Truman Doctrine, Washington’s role in the Suez Crisis, the Greek junta and the Imia Crisis of 1996. It also scrutinizes the different levels of the economic, military and diplomatic challenges which China, Russia and Turkey present today, while it also covers the American approach to the Arab Spring. From a ‘Shining City on a Hill’ to the current ‘Make America Great Again’ mottoes, this critique follows American Foreign Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the strong bonds that the nation established with the geostrategic, political and ideological features of the region. The pace of recent events, and the increasing complexity of this global corner, prove a challenge to America today; the future and clarion call that hard work and the finest ingenuity are necessary to keep its regional hegemony, and its course toward increased prosperity. This work’s goal is to inspire the conversations by academics, diplomats, leaders (both political and military) and most of all businessmen, to this end.
Author(s): Spyridon N. Litsas
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 228
Tags: Political Communication
Introduction......Page 5
Contents......Page 9
1 Introduction......Page 12
2 A Continental Country That Thought to Be an Island......Page 13
3 The Three Pillars of Success......Page 17
3.1 Individualism......Page 18
3.2 Mobility......Page 20
3.3 Exceptionalism......Page 23
4 The Hamiltonian School of Thought......Page 28
5 The Wilsonian School of Thought......Page 30
6 The Jeffersonian School of Thought......Page 34
7 The Jacksonian School of Thought......Page 36
8 The Obamian School of Thought......Page 41
9 Conclusions......Page 44
References......Page 45
1 Introduction......Page 51
2 The U.S. and the Eastern Mediterranean: A Long and Steady Entanglement......Page 52
3 The Barbary War of 1801–1805......Page 58
4 The Truman Doctrine and the Eastern Mediterranean: The Beginning of a New Era......Page 62
4.1 The Greek Case......Page 63
4.2 The Turkish Case......Page 66
4.3 Together We Stand......Page 71
5 The Suez Crisis: New Ways vs. Old Habits......Page 72
5.1 The Egyptian Conundrum......Page 73
5.2 War Drums in Suez: The Climax of a Crisis That Never Meant to Occur......Page 77
6 The Cradle of Democracy in Chains and the American Nonintervention......Page 87
7 The Greek Junta and the American Nonintervention......Page 89
8.1 A Problematic Relation Since the Early Beginning......Page 97
8.2 Greece and Turkey: Parallel Courses of Profound Decadence......Page 99
8.3 Imia: A Deep Interstate Crisis and the American Intervention......Page 101
9 Conclusion......Page 104
References......Page 105
1 Introduction......Page 112
2 The Arab Spring: A Conceptual Analysis......Page 113
2.1 Second Image Analysis......Page 117
2.2 Third Image Analysis......Page 122
3 The U.S. and the Arab Spring in the Eastern Mediterranean: A General Approach......Page 124
3.1 Even Monkeys Fall from Trees......Page 125
3.2 Neither Able Nor Willing......Page 128
4 The Egyptian Spring......Page 131
5 The Libyan Spring......Page 138
6 The Syrian Spring......Page 145
7 Conclusion......Page 155
References......Page 156
1 Introduction......Page 163
2 The Greek Crisis: A Sisyphean Condition......Page 164
3 SYRIZA in Power: The Beginning of a New Start?......Page 169
4 The Role of the American Factor in the Greek Crisis: Leading from Above......Page 177
5 Conclusion......Page 184
References......Page 186
1 Introduction......Page 189
2 The Sino-American Competition in the Eastern Mediterranean......Page 192
3 Russia vs. the U.S. in the Eastern Mediterranean: Moscow’s Sui Generis Revisionism......Page 200
4 The Turkish Neo-Revisionism in the Eastern Mediterranean......Page 207
5 Conclusion......Page 215
References......Page 217
Epilogue......Page 221
Index......Page 224
