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Kennedy's Senate speech shifted US policy toward abstaining on Algeria at the UN

Properties2
tagsja-picks, xref, causal_relationships, trade, singleton, category/causal-relationships
aliases@horne_savage_1977, loc. 767

2 min read

Kennedy’s Senate speech shifted US policy toward abstaining on Algeria at the UN

Evidence

At the end of February 1957 an Arab “summit” composed of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt convened in Cairo and, in a first display of Middle East unity, declared its total support for the Algerian cause. All this was duly noted in Washington, and the following month Vice-President Nixon arrived in Tunis to help celebrate the first anniversary of her independence. Following his meetings with Bourguiba, Nixon proposed to President Eisenhower a referendum whereby the Algerians could choose freely between the loi-cadre statute being prepared by Lacoste, or total independence. Then, in July, Chanderli’s influential friend in the Democratic opposition, Senator John F. Kennedy, rose to make an important pronouncement in the United States Senate. … No speech on foreign affairs by Senator Kennedy attracted more attention, both at home and abroad, and under such pressure United States official policy on Algeria now began to shift. Henceforth, instead of backing France at the United Nations, the United States would abstain. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 767

Categorization

  • XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader thread on international pressure forcing French policy — parallels the later ‘good offices’ mission as another external lever on France. — connects to: American diplomacy aimed to ease France out of Algeria as painlessly as possible; Senator Kennedy’s speech pressured American policy toward Algerian independence; American policy on Algeria shifted from backing France to abstaining (+1 more)

Broader Connections

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