OPEC, the Ba'ath Party, and the Iran-Iraq War: The Middle East in Flames

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established following a conference in Baghdad from September 9-14, 1960, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, and Venezuela. The primary goal was to raise low oil prices and protect the rights of producing nations through cooperation. However, the true turning point for the organization was the Arab-Israeli Wars. Failing to achieve their goals after the 1967 conflicts, the Arab states decided to use oil as a weapon against the West, monopolizing prices.

The 1973 Oil Crisis: Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) imposed an embargo on Western countries supporting Israel and cut production. The decision to reduce oil production by 5% each month until Israel withdrew from the occupied territories caused prices to quadruple, sending a massive economic shockwave across the globe.

In response, Western countries, led by the US, established the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974 to secure energy supplies. By the 1980s, as the West adapted its industries to the new conditions, OPEC’s influence began to wane. Ultimately, the heaviest toll of this crisis, intended to punish the West, was sadly paid by impoverished and developing Muslim nations left without assistance.

Regime Change in Iraq and the Ba’ath Party

Iraq transitioned to a republic following a military intervention in 1958, but the real political breaking point occurred on July 17, 1968, when the Ba’ath Party seized full control in a bloodless coup. Meaning “resurrection” in Arabic, the Ba’ath Party was founded in Damascus in 1940, aiming to establish a socialist, united, and secular Arab state in the Middle East. Amid internal disputes following the coup, a group of officers led by Saddam Hussein came to prominence and took over the government. During this period, Iraq’s growing closeness with the Soviet Union and Iran’s desire to solely dominate the Persian Gulf significantly raised tensions between the two countries.

The 1975 Algiers Agreement: This escalating tension was temporarily resolved through an agreement mediated by Algeria, establishing the deepest point of the Shatt al-Arab waterway as the border and briefly calming the waters.

Michel Aflaq (left) and Salah al-Din Bitar (right) with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (centre) in 1958. The three leaders were prime advocates for a pan-Arab union

Regime Change in Iran (The 1979 Islamic Revolution)

The “White Revolution” reforms initiated in 1962 by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who came to power in 1953, created massive social unrest in Iran. While steps like women’s suffrage angered the clergy (ulema), poorly planned industrialization drove millions of landless peasants into the cities. When economic hardship and political suppression evolved into a massive popular uprising led by the ulema, nationwide strikes paralyzed the country, forcing the Shah to flee in early 1979. Subsequently, Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been exiled to France for opposing the reforms, returned to the country with immense popular support.

Declaration of the Islamic Republic and the Hostage Crisis: On February 11, 1979, the Shah's regime collapsed completely, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established under Khomeini's religious leadership. The new administration's uncompromising stance against the US and the hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran irreparably severed relations between the two nations.

Arrival of Khomeini on 1 February 1979, escorted by an Air France pilot.

The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

The revolution in Iran completely upended the regional balance of power within the tense atmosphere of the Cold War. Khomeini's rise to power alarmed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whose country had a large Shia majority. When Saddam unilaterally annulled the 1975 Algiers Agreement with dreams of capturing Iran’s Arab-majority Khuzestan region, war broke out on September 22, 1980. Although Iraq seemed to have the upper hand initially, the conflict quickly devolved into a bloody and devastating war of attrition. Fearing the war would spread, regional countries formed the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981.

The Irangate Scandal (1986): This was the most striking diplomatic crisis of the war. It was revealed that the US (particularly the Reagan administration) had secretly sold weapons to Iran via Israel to serve its national interests, sparking a massive international scandal.

The Devastating Aftermath of the War: Lasting eight full years, the war cost approximately 1 million lives and did not shift the borders by a single inch. However, the economies of both nations collapsed entirely. Driven into a deep swamp of debt, Iraq's desperate move to invade Kuwait in 1990 led to Saddam Hussein’s total international isolation and paved the way for his ultimate downfall.

With this, we leave behind a heavy block full of regime wars that cost millions of lives and energy crises that shook global balances, affecting the fate of the Middle East.

We steer our course slightly away from the conflicts and turn to a new era where the sharp ice of the Cold War began to melt, and the world took on a different complexion. Our new topic is: Developments in the World During the Détente Period. In this section, we will likely explore the space race, technological leaps, the generation of '68, and the socio-cultural changes of the era.

The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Lebanon Crisis: America's New Role in the Middle East

The Suez Crisis had drastically shifted the pieces on the Middle Eastern chessboard. Following this crisis, the US realized that the image of traditional Western colonial powers like Britain and France in the Arab world was completely shattered, and Soviet Russia (USSR) was rapidly filling this void, increasing its prestige.

America’s Middle East Shield: The Eisenhower Doctrine (1957)

To halt this trend, US President Eisenhower sent a historic message to the US Congress on January 5, 1957. In this message, Eisenhower stated that after the Suez Crisis, the USSR was close to dominating the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern oil resources, the lifeblood of the West, thereby bringing the region under political control and dealing a fatal blow to the Western Bloc.

With this move, which would go down in history as the Eisenhower Doctrine, the President requested authorization to provide direct economic and military aid to Middle Eastern countries, to use US armed forces directly if these countries faced an attack from communist nations, and to spend $200 million annually for this purpose.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

How did it differ from the Truman Doctrine? Although the US first showed its interest in the Middle Eastern borders with the Truman Doctrine, that was a narrowly framed plan limited only to Türkiye and Greece, primarily envisioning “military aid.” In contrast, the Eisenhower Doctrine encompassed the entire Middle Eastern region and, most importantly, guaranteed that these countries would be defended against communism personally by the US, under the condition of “the actual use of American troops when necessary.” 

Through this doctrine, the US completely filled the power vacuum left by Britain and France (following the Suez fiasco) and stepped up against the USSR as the new protector of the Middle East. However, the doctrine split the Arab world in two: while Lebanon, Pakistan, Iraq, Türkiye, Greece, Afghanistan, Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco supported the plan; Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, swept by nationalist winds, reacted strongly against it.

The Doctrine’s First Test: The Lebanon Crisis (1958) The first major crisis where the Eisenhower Doctrine was put to the test erupted shortly after. During the 1957 general elections in Lebanon, pro-Western President Camille Chamoun rigged the elections to install a parliament that would extend his term for another 4 years, and on top of that, he accepted the Eisenhower Doctrine. This created a massive political crisis in the country. With the country on the brink of civil war, President Chamoun immediately appealed to the US, Britain, and France, claiming that everything happening was the result of “foreign intervention” (specifically by neighbouring Syria, and indirectly the USSR/Egypt alliance), and requested urgent military aid for Lebanon. The US, initially reluctant to engage in direct military intervention, changed its mind when the balance in the region suddenly turned upside down. The bloody coup in Iraq that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and heavily damaged the Baghdad Pact, the Western shield in the Middle East, threw the US into a panic. Consequently, the US invoked the Eisenhower Doctrine and landed exactly 15,000 American troops in Lebanon. Under the show of force by the American navy and troops, coupled with diplomatic pressure, President Chamoun agreed to drop his bid to extend his term. The crisis subsided when the Chief of Staff, Fuad Chehab, who was respected by all factions, was elected as the new president by the Lebanese parliament. U.S. Marine sits in a foxhole and points a machine gun towards Beirut, Lebanon With this, we have concluded that first decade which drew the borders of the Middle East in blood: the establishment of Israel, the devastating toll of the Arab-Israeli wars, the imperialist debacle at Suez, and the Eisenhower Doctrine, which marked direct US military intervention in the region. We saw step-by-step how the unending fire between Israel and Palestine was first stoked, and how Iran, attempting to claim its own oil, was silenced by a coup. Our new series: Developments in the Far East.

World War I: How It Reshaped the Middle East

In our previous blog, we explored how the Soviet Union reshaped Central Asia with artificial borders and strict assimilation policies. However, they were not the only ones drawing lines on a map. At the exact same time, Western imperial powers were executing a similar “divide and rule” strategy in the Middle East.

Today, to understand the endless conflicts, border disputes, and political crises we see on the news every day, we must look back to the aftermath of World War I. The Middle East we know today was not formed by natural historical progression, but by the pens and rulers of European diplomats. 

Generated by AI

During the depressed days of World War I, Britain, France, and Tsarist Russia had already drawn the map of the Middle East behind closed doors. They divided the region among themselves through secret treaties (especially the Sykes-Picot Agreement). However, an unexpected storm broke out: Russia withdrew from the war due to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The new Soviet government created a massive diplomatic crisis by exposing these secret imperialist plans to the whole world.

When US President Woodrow Wilson published his Fourteen Points (which explicitly opposed colonialism), the perfect plans of Britain and France took a heavy blow.

The San Remo Conference

However, these obstacles were not enough to stop the Western powers. The USA, disappointed by European politics, returned to its famous Monroe Doctrine (Policy of Isolation). This massive shift left the Middle Eastern stage entirely to Britain and France. Breathing a sigh of relief without the pressure of the USA, these two powers found a new disguise to achieve their goals: The Mandate System. Consequently, at the San Remo Conference in 1920, this new version of colonialism was formalized. They reached a strict consensus to officially divide the Middle Eastern territories under mandate regimes.

After the resolution on 25 April 1920, standing outside Villa Devachan, from left to right: Matsui, Lloyd George, Curzon, Berthelot, Millerand, Vittorio Scialoja, and Nitti. Enhanced by AI

Middle East Map

According to the official excuse of the League of Nations, some regions were not yet capable of “governing themselves” or “protecting their lands from attacks.” Therefore, it was argued that these nations should be managed by a “developed” state until they reached a certain level of maturity.

By the early 1920s, the Middle East was divided between two major imperial powers:

• France: Took Syria and Lebanon under its mandate. It also strengthened its control over Algeria and Tunisia in North Africa.
• Britain: To protect its trade routes to India and secure oil fields, it brought Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, and Kuwait into its mandate system. It also took strategic points in the Arabian Peninsula under its protection.

It was an announcement that the future of millions of people would be decided by others.

Emir Faisal's party at Versailles, during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919; left to right: Rustum Haidar, Nuri al-Said, Prince Faisal (front), Captain Pisani (rear), Lawrence, Faisal's servant (name unknown), Captain Hassan Khadri

Empty Promises and the Spark of Resistance in Egypt

While Britain and France were dividing the Middle East on paper, they needed to soften the inevitable anger of the local people. To do this, they issued a joint declaration on November 7, 1918, promising Arab nations the right to “establish their own democratic governments.” However, it soon became clear that these promises were nothing more than a stalling tactic.

The first major crack in this colonial system appeared in Egypt. Britain's attempt to establish total dominance clashed heavily with Egyptian nationalists. The Wafd Party, founded by Saad Zaghloul in early 1919, led a massive resistance movement, organizing strikes and protests throughout the country. Britain tried to extinguish this fire by exiling Zaghloul and other leaders, but this move backfired and only fueled the public's anger.

Stepping Back: The Winds of Independence

Faced with a growing and unstoppable crisis, Britain was forced to declare Egypt's independence with a declaration on February 28, 1922. The ruler of the time, Khedive Fuad I, accepted this declaration and took the title of King (Melik). At the end of this long struggle, Egypt completely abolished capitulations in 1937 and became a member of the League of Nations.

It wasn't just Britain; France also had to bow to the resistance in the region. Due to increasing nationalist pressures, France was forced to sign treaties paving the way for independence for Syria in 1930 and Lebanon in 1936.

The Middle East we know today was manufactured in European conference rooms. Sykes-Picot, San Remo different names for the same ambition. However, the wounds never healed. In our next post, we turn eastward to Japan, and the Meiji Restoration.