The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy - Assignment Example

The diplomatic doctrine President Truman followed was that United States would provide political, economic, and military service to all democratic nations which were under the threat of external or internal authoritarian forces (Milestones: 1945-1952. In the initial years, America really protected the interests of its ally Turkey. It was the nature of America to manipulate its foreign policies for its own advantage. However, it never tried to take any undue advantage from the relation with Turkey unlike it did in Afghanistan.

American policy after the Truman declaration was always in favor of Turkey. As America never wanted the Soviet Union to grow bigger than it and the communist party to spread to other parts of the world, it decided to support Turkey; both politically and financially. American foreign policy was thus aimed at promoting democracy in its friendly nations. As Carpenter (1999) points out, though Turkey faced some real threats from the Soviet Union like the overpowering of the current government with a communist government, Turkey overcame them with American support and moved to a democratic form of government from the single party government that existed.

In return to the support and help rendered by the United States during Cold War, Turkey agreed to send its forces to take part in the Korean War. Also, America provided all support to Turkey to become a member of NATO. Turkey became a founding member of the Central Treaty Organization. After these initial years, the relation between the duo began to deteriorate gradually; though for a short period of time. According to Carpenter (1999), the main reason for the break up was the attack by Turkey on Cyprus on the pretext of saving the ruling government from the imminent coup by army.

It was an evident breach of the international law and the UN charter. Moreover, it was against the American policy of opposition against aggression because Turkey was pointlessly attacking Cyprus. Though the United States was supposed to adopt stringent measures against its alley as the lack of such measures would invite widespread criticism, the American Congress managed to reduce the measures to a meager ban on arm sales to Turkey. Still, the step resulted in creating too much tension and mistrust in the relation between the duo.

However, the action of the US can be justified on the ground that Turkey violated the agreements and international law (cited in ‘Turkish invasion and Cyprus occupation’, 2005). When all these tensions ended, the Turkish leaders once again felt the need to be closer to the US. For, an ally like the US was essential to ensure the future security of Turkey in the Middle East.