The Soviet Union and the Cold War in the Middle East (2007)

Abstract

The Soviet attitude and policies towards the Arab-Israeli conflict were primarily, if not wholly, a function of the Cold War. Soviet policies towards the parties involved were first and foremost dictated by global considerations, even as regional and local factors were, obviously, taken into account. Attitudes towards peace or war, and continued conflict or settlement were determined not by animosity towards one side or another, sympathy or even ideology, but rather by calculations related to East-West relations and risks. Indeed, the high-risk nature of the conflict, due to the involvement, and at times commitment, of both superpowers, was perhaps the major factor in Soviet decision-making with regard to the conflict. Obviously, other factors and considerations were at play: the state of their relations with the Arab states, interests elsewhere in the Third World (themselves linked to the Cold War); domestic factors, including differences of opinion – or interests – within the Soviet establishment (within the military as well as perhaps between military and other institutions); changing economic interests; and even upon occasion the Sino-Soviet dispute.