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Роль организации «Американские друзья Ближнего Востока» в ближневосточной политике США 1950–1960‑х гг.The English version of the site is under reconstruction. Английская верcия сайта находится на реконструкции.

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The Role of the American Friends of the Middle East in the US Middle East Policy of the 1950s–1960s

Identificator
EDN: QPLZCL; УДК 94(73)
Authors
Sennikov Aleksey Ivanovich, PhD in History, associate professor of the Department of History and Political Sciences, Vyatka State University. Russia, Kirov. ORCID: 0000-0001-9329-2839. ResearcherID: I-4292-2018. Scopus Author ID: 57694744000. SPIN-code: 3759-1295. E-mail: usr12154@vyatsu.ru
Journal
HERALD OF HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION №2 (42), 2026
Section
GENERAL HISTORY
Pages
73-85
Abstract
The article is devoted to the activity of the American Friends of the Middle East as a component of the US cultural-warfare policy within the framework of the ideological confrontation of the 1950s–1960s with the USSR in the Middle Eastern region. Using the example of this non-profit organization, the approaches of the Central Intelligence Agency to the creation of affiliated organizations that played a "frontal" role in the cultural Cold War are traced. The article draws on documents from the archives of the CIA, the State Department, the U.S. National Archives, and private collections and funds, as well as periodical and reporting publications of the organization itself, which allows for a detailed examination of its activity. The American Friends of the Middle East emerged as a result of the convergence of the aspirations of part of the American intellectuals and public figures to preserve benevolent relations with the Arab world with the interests of the intelligence services in promoting a positive image of the USA to counteract the growth of Soviet influence on the periphery of the Cold War. The CIA played an important role in the creation of the organization, even though its emergence took place on a voluntary basis. The latter played a role in the American Friends becoming one of the leading anti-Zionist forces, actively fighting in the 1950s against the influence of the growing Israeli lobby within the USA. A number of Washington's foreign-policy failures in the context of the Middle Eastern crises of the mid-1950s led to reshuffles within the organization, to its greater dependence on state bodies, and to a reduction of anti-Zionist propaganda. On the other hand, under the Eisenhower administration, which was interested in a "psychological war" with the USSR, the organization was in demand as one of its instruments in the Middle East. With the coming to power of the Democratic presidents J. Kennedy and L. Johnson, the American Friends lost their privileged position and were forced to reduce their public activity even further and to come under the close patronage of the CIA. At the same time, the role of cultural diplomacy and of information-propaganda wars only strengthened under Kennedy, which allowed the organization to stay afloat. This did not save it from persecution by pro-Israeli forces in the USA, which began to expose the organization's ties with state structures. At the beginning of 1967, the American Friends of the Middle East found themselves at the epicentre of the scandal over the sponsorship by the intelligence services of propaganda cultural organizations in the USA. The Third Arab-Israeli War of 1967 dealt a heavy blow to the organization, nullifying many years of efforts to promote a positive image of the USA. However, as the documents show, the organization was able to survive these troubles and continued to exist in a less public and renewed form.
Keywords
The American Friends of the Middle East US Middle East policy the periphery of the Cold War cultural wars the CIA
Recieved
12.05.2026
Published
20.08.2026

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