The primary focus of the documents in this volume is on the foreign policymaking
process of the U.S. Government, including documentation illuminating policy
formulation and major aspects and repercussions of its execution. Emphasis is placed
on official memoranda that reveal policy positions, show differences within the U.S.
Government over policy formulation, summarize developments and positions regarding
an issue, contain intelligence or military assessments, and describe decisions or
actions taken at the National Security Council. Some key instructions sent to
diplomatic posts in the region are included when they demonstrate the details of the
execution of foreign policy. Memoranda of conversations with foreign leaders both
abroad and in Washington were selected to provide additional information on the
origins and impact of foreign policy decisions.
The major topics and issues covered in volume XVIII are as follows:
1. U.S. policy toward the conflict in Yemen and relations with the United Arab
Republic and Saudi Arabia. The large amount of documentation on this subject in the
volume reflects the extensive attention it received from the Kennedy administration.
The material covered includes the U.S. response to the overthrow of the Yemeni
monarchy and subsequent civil war in that country; background to the U.S.
recognition of the Yemeni Republic in December 1962; U.S. efforts to mediate the
conflict, including the mission of Ellsworth Bunker; and the dispatch of a U.S. air
squadron to Saudi Arabia (Operation Hard Surface) in July 1963. The selection of
documents reflects the regional nature of the Yemen conflict, with emphasis on U.S.
relations with the United Arab Republic and Saudi Arabia, rather than on the
situation in Yemen per se. The documents record how the U.S. initiative to improve
relations with UAR President Gamal Abdul Nasser waned as the United States sought to
assuage Saudi Arabia's concerns for its security. The volume concludes with growing
U.S. Congressional opposition to the administration's program of economic assistance
to the UAR.
2. Israeli security issues and the Near East arms question. Emphasis is given to
administration efforts to meet Israel's security concerns, including the decision in
August 1962 to supply Israel with the Hawk missile, the first major weapon system
provided to Israel by the United States. The volume records administration efforts
to respond to Israel's request for a U.S. security guarantee and includes
documentation on U.S.-Israeli military discussions in November 1963. The volume also
documents the U.S. desire to avert the introduction of advanced weapons in the
region, President Kennedy's concern over Israel's nuclear program, and the mission
of special Presidential emissary John J. McCloy to Cairo to discuss the possibility
of mutual arms limitation by the UAR and Israel.
3. Policies toward the Arab-Israeli dispute. Special coverage is given to U.S.
support for the initiative to resolve the Palestinian refugee question (Joseph
Johnson mission), and the initiative's demise. The volume also records the U.S.
position on a number of Arab-Israeli issues, including incidents of violence,
deliberations in the United Nations, the Jerusalem question, Israel's desire for
direct negotiations with its Arab neighbors, and the growing importance of the Near
East water question.
4. U.S. policy toward Iran. This volume documents U.S. relations with Iran during
the Shah's implementation of an extensive program of social and economic reforms
which the Kennedy administration had urged him to undertake. It also records the
U.S. response to the first signs of violent resistance to the Shah's regime from
Iran's Islamic religious community.
5. Other significant U.S. policies in the region. The volume also records U.S.
support for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during a crisis that developed during
the spring of 1963, the U.S. responses to coups d'etat in Syria and Iraq leading to
changes in government, the U.S. reaction to inter-Arab unity talks in the spring of
1963, and U.S. concern over developments relating to the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC).