1956 Suez Canal The Egyptian Government seized control of the Suez Canal in 1956 from the British

h and French owned company that managed it. Due to this event, it gives an important consequences for US relations with Middle East countries and European allies. President Gamal Abdel Nasser from Egypt nationalized the British and French owned Suez Canal company that operated the Suez Canal. President Nasser decision threatened to cut off the oil supply from the Middle East to Europes and Western countries. The US relationship with two primary Cold War allies, Britain and France has been challenged by this Suez Crisis.

After the US and Britain refer back on a previous agreement to finance the Aswan Dam project, President Nasser decided to nationalized the canal. The Aswan Dam was designed to control the Nile's flood waters and provide electricity and water to the Egyptian populace and, as such, was a symbol of Egypt's modernization. Nasser made several moves that appeared friendly to the communist bloc such as an arms deal with Czechoslovakia and recognition of the Chinese Government in Beijing, hence the US and Britain withdrew their financing for the Aswan Dam project. Without any support from US and Britain, Nasser generated the revenue from tolls collected from ships that using Suez Canal in order to subsidize the cost of building the Dam. The US seek a diplomatic solution and they were concerned about nationalization of the Canal where they seek military solution that involved Israel and secretly contacted the Israeli government and proposed a joint military operation. In this operation, Israel would invade the Sinai and much towards the Suez Canal Zone. Since it gave Israel the opportunity to gain control of the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, this will give an advantage to the Israeli which would end the Egyptian blockade of the Straits of Tiran. The regional balance of power in the Middle East, has been fundamentally altered by the Suez conflict. For the world it was a military defeat for Egypt, but for Nasser his status grew in the Arab world as the defender of Arab nationalism. While the UN adopted a larger role maintaining a peacekeeping force in the Sinai, for Israel the withdrew from Egyptian territory gain in the fighting but they managed to regain access to the Straits of Tiran. Although Britain and France lost influence in the region and suffered humiliation after the withdrawal their troops from the

Suez Canal Zone, adding to the relations between the US and its British and France allies temporarily deteriorated in the months following the war. In conclusion, the Soviet as Communist country became influential in the Middle East especially in Syria where the Soviets began to supply arms and advisers to the Syrian Military. In contrast the US had played a moderating role and in so doing had improved its relations with Egypt, but the fundamental disputes between Israel and its neighbours remain unresolved. The US would again be drawn into the conflicts when these disagreements resurfaced. This is among the factors that stimulated US involvement in the Middle East.