Oklahoma Academic Standard 8. The student will analyze the impact foreign and domestic policies from 1977 to 2001.

Objective 8.1 Evaluate President Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy in the Middle East including the Camp David Accords, the OPEC oil embargo, and the response to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.

In a Nutshell

This objective focuses on student analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Carter administration, including its foreign policy in the Middle East which would impact the domestic economy and American citizens directly. Through examination of foreign policy challenges, students will understand the status of diplomatic relations that continue in the region today.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Reinforce the concept of globalization and the expanding use of scarce resources and how that contributes to conflict and cooperation.  

• Use interdisciplinary lenses to gather and evaluate information regarding complex local, regional, and global problems; assess individual and collective actions taken to address such problems.   

• Demonstrate understanding of content through the development of self-driven investigations and the completion of multi-staged, authentic tasks to evaluate the legacy of the Carter administration on foreign affairs and domestic policies.

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• Helsinki Accords

• Ayatollah Khomeini

• Prime Minister Menachem Begin, President Anwar el-Sadat

• Palestinian issue, security of Israel's right to exist

• framework for future peace treaty; disintegration of a united Arab front  

• Many students will possess limited prior knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict and may be unaware of the complexity of Mid-East foreign relations that continue into the modern era. 

Instructional Resources