This office operated under the guidance of Edwin A. Locke Jr. to coordinate all aspects of United States economic policy toward the region, with a particular focus on U.S. aid.
President Truman soon found that the many organizations in the Near East produced “too many plans and too much talk and not enough action.” This frustration with the bureaucracy served as the catalyst for the Locke Mission, commenced in December 1951.
Locke returned to the United States on a mission to convince President Truman of the plan's merits, but was sent back to Beirut with a different set of goals.
President Truman told Locke to deemphasize Point Four participation in the Near East while simultaneously increasing the activity of UNWRA in the region.
However, the mission was one of the first examples of a policy of regionalism whereby the United States concentrated on developing the entire Near East rather than interacting with specific countries.