Abstract

This article examines the course of US-Syrian relations since the Six Day War of 1967 and it demonstrates how they began deteriorating as the Cold War between the superpowers intensified. The author argues that the bilateral relations were adversely affected by several factors that marginalized Syria’s image as a major player in the Middle East; Washington’s tendency to pay excessive attention to Soviet designs in the Middle East; the rise of pan-Arabism, which portrayed Egypt as a major threat to US interests in the region; the persistence of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and above all, the small size of the Syrian state and the weakness of its economy which prevented the American policy makers from courting its leaders.

摘要

本文考察了自 1967 年六日战争以来美叙关系的进程，并展示了随着超级大国之间冷战的加剧，美叙关系如何开始恶化。作者认为，双边关系受到一些因素的不利影响，这些因素使叙利亚作为中东主要参与者的形象边缘化；华盛顿倾向于过度关注苏联在中东的设计；泛阿拉伯主义的兴起，将埃及描绘成对美国在该地区利益的主要威胁；阿以冲突的持续存在，最重要的是，叙利亚国家规模小，经济疲软，这阻碍了美国决策者向其领导人求爱。