ABSTRACT
The relative unanimity of world opinion on the issue was important not only to Soviet-American relations; general Soviet-American consensus on the nature of the problem made it easier for the Arab world to act with greater consensus on the unacceptable nature of the Iraqi invasion. The whole world has come to recognize the stunning changes in the character of the international order. Prima facie evidence of the global shift is evident in the astonishingly different character of the Kuwaiti crisis compared with earlier international crises in the Middle East. The irrelevance of Israel in the Gulf War is the good news for Israel, for it suggests that there is some chance in the new international order that Israel may be irrelevant as an “instrument” of American interests in the region. The imperative need to resolve the Palestinian question emerged with greater urgency in the course of the Gulf War.
