Unlocking the Middle East with the Help of Nixon

On a recent visit to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, my husband and I saw a special exhibit about the Middle East.

The library curated an exhibit that does an excellent job at showing the culture and accomplishments of the people – including some exquisite jewelry, bowls and other artifacts. However, for me, the big takeaway is conflict and missteps in resolution.

My husband and I are both huge movie buffs and really enjoyed the section about Lawrence of Arabia. If you haven’t seen Peter O’Toole in the 1962 movie, please do so. Thomas Edward Lawrence started his Middle East adventure with high hopes. By the end of the Arab Revolt, he was so frustrated by the British mishandling of the Middle East that he turned down a knighthood from King George V.

The exhibit is thorough at explaining the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 which essentially divided the Middle East into sections without taking into consideration religion and other cultural differences.

The background stories of the last Shah of Iran, Golda Meir and Anwar El-Sadat are all covered in this comprehensive exhibit as is the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956.

Nixon was in the White House during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Hence, the exhibit has numerous photos of Nixon in Israeli as well as in Egypt and Syria. My favorite photo is of Nixon and Sadat speaking with one of the Pyramids in the background.