Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance The Jordanian Factor

The Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance: The Jordanian Factor examines the birth of the American-Israeli alliance as inherent in the regional processes which preceded the Six-Day-War of June 1967.The book argues that the alliance between Washington and Jerusalem developed as a direct response to the growing Egyptian and Syrian threat to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which ultimately resulted in the emergence of Israel as a "regional balancer"; a power determined to confront this growing threat by becoming irrevocably committed to the survival of Jordan.Not only did this threat repeatedly underscore Israel's strategic value to American interests as a guardian and protector of the embattled Hashemite regime, but it resulted in the conclusion of new arms deals between Washington and Jerusalem and thus in the upgrading of the strategic components of the relationship.Based upon a most comprehensive review of numerous primary sources, the book reconstructs the origins and early evolution of the American-Israeli alliance as it unfolded during the years: 1957-1970. In addition to an introductory theoretical chapter, it contains four case studies, which represent four distinctive phases in the formation and consolidation of the alliance. These phases, in turn, are linked to Jordan's growing security dilemma in the face of the mounting Egyptian and Syrian threat.This exciting new book will be of great interest to a diverse readership as it provides a new perspective for explaining the regional root-causes of the American-Israeli partnership as they started to unfold during the second term of the Eisenhower presidency.Abraham Ben-Zvi is Professor Emeritus at Tel-Aviv University, who is teaching in the Department of International Relations at the University of Haifa. Between 2004 and 2006, he was the Goldman Visiting Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University.Ben-Zvi, Abraham is the author of 'Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance The Jordanian Factor', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415410458 and ISBN 0415410452.