The Superpowers and the October War

Abstract

Faced with the threat of a direct confrontation between the superpowers, Israel and Egypt were at first compelled by their respective patrons, the USA and the Soviet Union, to acquiesce to paragraph 1 of UN Security Council Resolution 338, and comply with the ceasefire agreement. Israel, however, continued hostilities: on 23 October, Israeli troops succeeded in completely encircling the Third Egyptian Army. Although it had already been encircled on 19 October, it had retained access to the road link to Cairo, which was its supply route. On October 23, the UN Security Council met again and adopted a further resolution, no. 339, reiterating the ceasefire call expressed in Resolution 338. Israel continued fighting, however, thereby precipitating its patron into an international political crisis. The Soviet Union could not now abandon its client without jeopardising its credibility as a superpower.KeywordsMiddle EastSecurity CouncilSecurity Council ResolutionRegional ConflictInternational CrisisThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.