Sixty-eight years ago today, on January 5, 1957 (December 5, 1956), Eisenhower proposed an aggressive expansion plan to control the Middle East. After World War II, Eisenhower gave a radio speech on the Voice of America, the Middle East became an important object of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. The old colonialists in the Middle East, Britain, France and other countries, had been greatly weakened at this time, unable to deal with the growing national liberation movement in the Middle East. After the Suez Canal incident in 1956, Britain and France were forced to withdraw from some areas, creating a so-called "political vacuum". In order to control the Middle East, the United States decided to take advantage of it. On January 5, 1957, US President Eisenhower presented a special message on the Middle East to Congress and submitted a Middle East resolution. The basic principles of this resolution are called the "Eisenhower Doctrine". The main content is: Congress authorizes the president to use $200 million to provide economic and military assistance to Middle Eastern countries; the president has the right to provide military assistance at the request of these countries, provided that these countries face "armed aggression by any country controlled by international communism". The Eisenhower Doctrine is another aggressive program of the United States in the Middle East after the Truman Doctrine. Khrushchev (first from right) and US President Eisenhower (second from left) hold talks at Camp David in the United States