Aurel Braun - The Middle East in Global Strategy

Emphasizing the vital links between international politics and strategy, the contributors provide a comprehensive analysis of the strategic interests of the major international actors in the Middle East. The policies of the superpowers toward the Middle East are fragmented and unproductive, the authors contend, and must be integrated into overall strategic doctrine. For example, inadequate awareness of the strategic value and interests of two key regional actors Syria and Israelhas led to external misperceptions of their roles.

NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) have not been effective, despite their potential to exert considerable influence. Such problems as the divergent views of the West European allies and the United States as well as almost total Soviet dominance in foreign policy decisions made in the WTO have greatly limited collective alliance input. Moreover, emphasis on the Arab-Israeli conflict has obscured the pivotal role the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war play in the region's continuing upheaval. Such deep-seated instability further highlights the need for international actors to define and act upon their strategic interests clearly and comprehensively.

Aurel Braun is associate professor of international relations, University of Toronto.

edited by
Aurel Braun

First published 1987 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2019 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Middle East in global strategy.
(Westview special studies on the Middle East)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Middle EastPolities and government1945
2. Middle EastStrategic aspects. 3. Middle East
Foreign relations. I. Braun, Aurel. II. Series.
DS63.1.M489 1987 956'.052 87-8315
ISBN 0-8133-7191-0

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
The Middle East in global strategy.
1. Middle EastPolitics and government
1945 2. Middle EastForeign
relations
I. Braun, Aurel
956 DS63.1

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-29389-5 (hbk)

A volatile area, the Middle East has been the subject of a great many studies but there remain gaps and inadequacies in the scholarly literature. In placing some of the key regional issues in the context of global strategic concerns one should get some additional insights into the problems facing regional and external actors and about strategy and strategic assessment. This work is a collective effort, based largely on a conference held at the University of Toronto under the auspices of the Canadian Professors for Peace in the Middle East.

I have benefitted from the encouragement and support of many individuals and organizations. Generous financial aid has been provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Office of Research Administration's Humanities and Social Sciences Committee at the University of Toronto, the Canadian Professors for Peace in the Middle East, and Erindale College, of the University of Toronto. My wife, Julianna, an art critic and editor, gave me both encouragement and useful advice in the preparation of the manuscript for publication. Dr. Eva Dessen, the Executive Director of the CPPME, did a tremendous job of handling the details of the conference, and her experience and helpfulness were invaluable assets. Chris Arden of Westview Press thoroughly copyedited the manuscript. My research assistant, Douglas Alderson, did a fine job in checking sources and in helping proofread the manuscript. I also benefitted from the advice of Susan McEachern, the acquisitions editor, and Lauri Fults, associate editor, at Westview Press in getting the manuscript ready for publication. Dean L.J. Brooks of Erindale College contributed not only college computer services but also a good deal of his own time in the technical preparation of the manuscript. Typing, computer inputing and final preparation were all done by the following individuals who exhibited a great deal of dedication, patience and professionalism: F. Burke, Brenda Samuels, Lyn Gladman and Mary Pacy at the University of Toronto. I would also like to thank Henri Durand of Computerized Pagemaking for specialized computer services. I am, of course, responsible for all errors and omissions.

Aurel Braun