Building a New Global Order: Eisenhower, Suez, and the Pursuit of Peace

Abstract

This study illuminates Dwight D. Eisenhower’s efforts during his first term as President to advance new global norms that would make peace a more enduring aspect of international relations. Between 1945 and 1952, Eisenhower was an engaged supporter of America’s efforts to move the world away from the “war-system” that characterized the early twentieth century. The venture included implementing the Bretton Woods economic agreements, creating the United Nations, adopting the UN Human Rights Convention and supporting collective security organizations, such as NATO. Combined, these efforts mitigated the primary causes of war and advanced new standards of global statecraft. They also competed for influence over US foreign policy and for global support. Eisenhower’s election in 1952 represented a mandate to prevent an early failure of the undertaking. Within months of taking office, Ike implemented a comprehensive grand strategy that included the imaginative use of military and economic power, as well as the addition of moral power to guide US foreign policy. By 1956, this grand strategy had advanced America’s leadership in global affairs through the advocacy of new norms of conduct that produced mutually beneficial norms and standards. However, the Suez Crisis threatened to derail the American project. Eisenhower understood the stakes and decided to oppose the British and French efforts to secure the Suez Canal Zone by force. Throughout the crisis, America upheld the new standards of nation-state conduct agreed to in the United Nations Charter. This decision consolidated the position of the free world and served the nation’s enduring interest of advancing a peaceful world order.