During the Suez Crisis President Dwight Eisenhower refused to support the Anglo-French action against Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt. Afterwards his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, became concerned about the growing influence of the Soviet Union in the Middle East.

In January 1957 made a speech in Congress where Eisenhower recommended the use of American forces to protect Middle East states against overt aggression from nations "controlled by international communism". He also urged the provision of economic aid to those countries with anti-communist governments. This new foreign policy became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.

In April 1957 help was given to King Hussein who was under threat from left-wing groups in Jordan. The following year, 10,000 marines went to the Lebanon to protect President Camille Chamoun from Muslim extremists. These two cases created a great deal of anti-Americanism in the Middle East and in 1959 it was decided that the Eisenhower Doctrine should be brought to an end.