These developments motivated US President Eisenhower, who launched an economic and military aid program in January 1957 to protect Middle Eastern countries from military threats and internal (communist-inspired) turmoil. Known as the Eisenhower Doctrine, this policy was a direct response to the perceived increase in Soviet influence in the region and, as such, promised aid to any Middle Eastern country “threatened by armed aggression,” i.e. communism, whether from within or without.