Foreign Relations
As leader of Syria, Shishakli sought good relations with Western countries, and maintained Syria's uncompromising stance towards Israel. Syrian relations with the Hashemite monarchies of Jordan and Iraq were poor during his presidency, but he also looked with distrust at the rapid spread of Nasserism. Many believe that Nasser's Free Officer Revolution of 1952 in Egypt had been modeled after Shishakli's own coups of 1949 and 1951. Shishakli's relations were strong, however, with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, his son King Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, and King Talal of Jordan.
Shishakli greatly liked King Talal and said that he had no ambitions in Syria, unlike his father King Abdullah I. Despite this, and in contrast with his pro-Western outlook and family background which is composed of Ottoman and Syrian, Shishakli recognized the desires of Syria's Arab majority and accordingly adopted a policy of pan-Arabism. He clashed frequently with the independent-minded Druze minority on the Jabal Druze mountain, accusing them of wanting to topple his regime using funds from Jordan and, in 1954, resorted to shelling Druze strongholds to put down resistance to his rule.
His relations with both Britain and the United States were mixed. Britain courted Shishakli during the early period of his rule in the hope that Syria would join plans for a British-led Middle East Defense Organization. The United States offered Shishakli considerable sums of money to settle Palestinian refugees in Syria and turn them into Syrians. Shishakli, although tempted by these offers of Western arms and money, did not take them. The Palestinian situation had soured Syrians on relations with the West. Syria wanted revenge rather than to accept defeat and repair Syria's damaged relations with the West and make peace with Israel.
Read more about this topic: Adib Shishakli
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