Middle East Timeline, 1960-75

1960

• Formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at Baghdad, Iraq.
• Construction begins of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in Egypt; creates 2,000 sq. mile reservoir; starts largest archeological engineering task to save artifacts in history.

1961

• With a growing Ba’ath Party in Syria desiring power, the United Arab Republic (UAR) ends a three-year union which had joined Syria and the Egypt of Gamal Abdul Nasser.  Coup d’etat reestablishes separate Syrian Republic.
• Britain leaves Kuwait.

1962

• The Kingdom of Jordan builds its first national university, Jordan University.
• Shah Pahlavi introduces to Iran a 15-year package of modernizing social and economic reforms called the “White Revolution” to offset the left-leaning opposition, including land reform, privatization of government enterprises, a school building program and literacy initiatives, extending voting rights to women, and allowances for once-forbidden western types of dress.
• Civil war begins in southeastern Arabia (Yemen) which lasts until 1970; one side supported by Saudi Arabia, the other side by Egypt.
• President Kennedy becomes the first American President to sell a major weapon system, the Hawk anti-aircraft missile, to Israel.

1963

• Coup in Damascus (“March 8th Revolution”) by the Syrian branch of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party; executed with the knowledge of socialist Ba’ath Party which seized power earlier in Iraq (February, “Ramadan Revolution”) killing thousands during and after the coup; in 1968, a young Saddam Hussein Takriti becomes vice president; completes break with perceived British/French influence after 1958 Revolution. 
• Shah of Iran welcomed Soviet Premier Brezhnev to Tehran, as he had hosted President Eisenhower in 1959. In years of rapid economic growth for Iran, the Shah fashioned himself a sort of “crowned entrepreneur.”

1964

• Soviet premier Khrushchev calls the Aswan High Dam “the eighth wonder of the world” on a trip to Egypt.
• The Arab League creates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under the leadership of Yasser Arafat.
• Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol visits White House.
• Oil discovered in Oman; extraction starts in 1967.
• Prince Faisal deposes King Saud (1953-64), his half brother, to become King of Saudi Arabia. Ends slavery in the Kingdom, abolishes the office of Grand Mufti and replaces it with a Ministry of Justice, sends Saudi students abroad to return to become the core of the civil service.

1965

• Soviet premier Khrushchev calls the Aswan High Dam “the eighth wonder of the world” on a trip to Egypt.
• The Arab League creates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under the leadership of Yasser Arafat.
• Prince Faisal deposes King Saud (1953-64), his half brother, to become King of Saudi Arabia. Ends slavery in the Kingdom, abolishes the office of Grand Mufti and replaces it with a Ministry of Justice, sends Saudi students abroad to return to become the core of the civil service.

1966

• The Ba’ath Party replaces the parliament as Syria’s principal law-making body after a run of three different regimes in 1961, 1962, and 1963; the country veers heavily toward the Soviet bloc; pursues hardline policies against Israel and “reactionary” Arab states such as Saudi Arabia.
• Israel attacks the Fatah stronghold of Samu in the Jordanian West Bank (November 11).
• Syria and Jordan make mutual defense agreements with Egypt 1967???

1967

• Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli flagged vessels (May 23)
• Six-Day War begins (June 5); Israel holds Egyptian Sinai, the Gaza Strip, Jordan’s West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Syria’s Golan Heights; Israel halts Syrian canal to divert Jordan River.
• The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 242 (November 22).
• Exodus of Palestinians begins out of the West Bank to Jordan, damaging Jordan’s economy; becomes ground zero for Palestinian issues.
• Britain departs its base at Aden with its oil refinery and HQ of Britain’s Middle East Command.

1968

• The construction of the King Faud Causeway between Saudi Arabia and the island Bahrain begins, representing the fabulous oil wealth of the region.
• British Labor government of Harold Wilson announces a policy of ending all treaty relationships with the Persian Gulf sheikdoms as part of the stated goal of drawing down military commitments “east of Suez.”

1969

1970

• Aswan High Dam completed; reservoir filled by 1976.
• Saudi King Faisal founds the Islamic Conference as an alternative to Nasserism.
• Gamal Abdul Nasser dies; succeeded by Anwar Sadat as Egypt’s third president.
• Syrian forces invade Jordan to support PLO fedayeen against the Hashemite monarchy (“Black September Crisis”); Hafez al-Assad, father of today’s Basher al-Assad, becomes president of Syria.

1971

• Britain departs Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States (U.A.E.). Bahrain becomes home for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
• PLO’s Black September Organization assassinates Jordan’s prime minister, Wasfi Tal, in Cairo.

1972

• PLO’s Black September Organization murders Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics. 

1973

• Yom Kippur (Ramadan) War: Soviet Union & the United States come close to regional intervention.
• OPEC unleashes the “oil weapon” against the United States and the West for support of Israel; Iran urges maximum price increases; redounds to huge Iranian GDP spike.

1974

• Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” to Middle East capitals to manage the fallout from the October 1973 Yom Kippur War; esp. involved Syria, Egypt, and Israel.
• Secretary of the Treasury William Simon achieves deal with Saudi Arabia in which the United States would buy Saudi oil in exchange for American military aid and equipment. The Saudis agreed to plow back the money they made from oil (“petrodollars”) into US Treasuries to fund American debt. Reinforces the dollar as the world’s reserve currency – this time based on oil and gas, rather than on gold which was abandoned in 1971 (July). 
• Time Magazine names King Faisal of Saudi Arabia as its “Man of the Year,” reflecting the influence of OPEC and the effect of the oil embargo in the West.
• Turkey invades Cyprus, July 20.

1975

• Lebanon descends into civil war after a decade of peace under Fuad Chebad (1958-64) and Charles Helou (1964-1970); and after Lebanon and its capital became known as “the Switzerland of the Middle East” for its quiet glamour and stability.
• King Faisal of Saudi Arabia assassinated by his half brother’s son; succeeded by Khalid who became king and prime minister.
• Iran spends larger proportion of its GDP on defense than any country except Israel.