Dual containment
Encyclopedia
Dual containment was an official United States foreign policy aimed at containing
Iraq
and Iran
, Israel's and America's two most important strategic adversaries in the Middle East
. It was first outlined in May 1993 by Martin Indyk
at WINEP and officially announced on February 24, 1994 at a symposium of the Middle East Policy Council
by Martin Indyk, then the senior director for Middle East Affairs of the National Security Council
(NSC).
's ideas of containment of the USSR during the Cold War; critics have argued, however, that it did not respect Kennan's key demand for containment to succeed: the principle of power-balancing. Kennan argued that the Soviet Union and the United States, as both were superpowers, had everything to lose and nothing to gain by going to war with each other. On the other hand, both states had global interests which they clearly felt they had to maintain.
According to Kennan, the United States and Russia should respect the other's spheres of interest. That way the two could get along, building themselves up and developing their societies. However, they must, under no circumstances, go to war with each other. To be sure, with two such diametrically opposed systems, relations would never be warm, or even cooperative. However, as long as the two did not try to destroy each other, catastrophe could be avoided. What Kennan was expressing was the concept of balancing - the idea that, in the world of international politics, a proper balance could be struck between potential adversaries and this would produce a stable situation which could be prolonged for an indefinite period.
In the case of Iraq and Iran in the 1990s, U.S. policymakers confronted them with what amounted to a dictat - the two either remade themselves according to U.S. desires, or the government would simply keep up the sanctions until they did.
, an area that many in the region regard as "holy soil," which offended many locals and is cited by Osama bin Laden
as one reason for his hatred against the United States policies and part of his motivation for the September 11 attacks.
Traditional American policies had been not to engage with troops on the ground in the Middle East, but to stay "over the horizon", ready to move in at short notice. The only time the U.S. had deviated from this policy was during its intervention in the civil war in Lebanon, and that led to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing
.
By the mid-1990s there was considerable dissatisfaction with dual containment, because it made the United States the mortal enemy of two countries that hated each other, and forced Washington to bear the burden of containing both. Pressed by AIPAC and other pro-Israel forces, Clinton toughened up the policy in the spring of 1995 by imposing an economic embargo on Iran. But AIPAC and the others wanted more. The result was the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996
, which imposed sanctions on any foreign company investing more than $40 million to develop petroleum resources in Iran or Libya.
Containment
Containment was a United States policy using military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to stall the spread of communism, enhance America’s security and influence abroad, and prevent a "domino effect". A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet...
Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Israel's and America's two most important strategic adversaries in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. It was first outlined in May 1993 by Martin Indyk
Martin Indyk
Martin Sean Indyk is Vice President and Director for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Indyk served as United States ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He is known as the framer of the U.S...
at WINEP and officially announced on February 24, 1994 at a symposium of the Middle East Policy Council
Middle East Policy Council
The Middle East Policy Council or MEPC is a Washington DC based 5013 non-profit organization that produces analysis and commentary on issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It was founded in 1981 under the stated mission to "expand public discussion and understanding of issues...
by Martin Indyk, then the senior director for Middle East Affairs of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
(NSC).
Resemblance to Kennan's containment of the Soviet Union
The idea was inspired by George F. KennanGeorge F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
's ideas of containment of the USSR during the Cold War; critics have argued, however, that it did not respect Kennan's key demand for containment to succeed: the principle of power-balancing. Kennan argued that the Soviet Union and the United States, as both were superpowers, had everything to lose and nothing to gain by going to war with each other. On the other hand, both states had global interests which they clearly felt they had to maintain.
According to Kennan, the United States and Russia should respect the other's spheres of interest. That way the two could get along, building themselves up and developing their societies. However, they must, under no circumstances, go to war with each other. To be sure, with two such diametrically opposed systems, relations would never be warm, or even cooperative. However, as long as the two did not try to destroy each other, catastrophe could be avoided. What Kennan was expressing was the concept of balancing - the idea that, in the world of international politics, a proper balance could be struck between potential adversaries and this would produce a stable situation which could be prolonged for an indefinite period.
In the case of Iraq and Iran in the 1990s, U.S. policymakers confronted them with what amounted to a dictat - the two either remade themselves according to U.S. desires, or the government would simply keep up the sanctions until they did.
Consequences
As a consequence of the policy, the U.S. had to station large number of troops nearby. Troops were stationed in Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, an area that many in the region regard as "holy soil," which offended many locals and is cited by Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
as one reason for his hatred against the United States policies and part of his motivation for the September 11 attacks.
Traditional American policies had been not to engage with troops on the ground in the Middle East, but to stay "over the horizon", ready to move in at short notice. The only time the U.S. had deviated from this policy was during its intervention in the civil war in Lebanon, and that led to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...
.
By the mid-1990s there was considerable dissatisfaction with dual containment, because it made the United States the mortal enemy of two countries that hated each other, and forced Washington to bear the burden of containing both. Pressed by AIPAC and other pro-Israel forces, Clinton toughened up the policy in the spring of 1995 by imposing an economic embargo on Iran. But AIPAC and the others wanted more. The result was the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996
Iran and Libya Sanctions Act
The Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 was a 1996 act of Congress that imposed economic sanctions on firms doing business with Iran and Libya. On September 30, 2006, the act was renamed to the Iran Sanctions Act , as it no longer applied to Libya, and extended until December 31, 2011...
, which imposed sanctions on any foreign company investing more than $40 million to develop petroleum resources in Iran or Libya.
End
By the late 1990s, however, neo-conservatives were arguing that dual containment was not enough and that regime change in Iraq was essential. By toppling Saddam and turning Iraq into a vibrant democracy, they argued, the US would trigger a far-reaching process of change throughout the Middle East. The same line of thinking was evident in the ‘Clean Break’ study the neo-conservatives wrote for Netanyahu.External links
- America's Misguided Policy of Dual Containment in the Persian Gulf - Cato Foreign Policy Briefing No. 33, by Barbara Convay, Cato InstituteCato InstituteThe Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
, November 10, 1994