ABSTRACT
Soviet policy in the Gulf region has been to exploit opportunities to decrease Western influence and to undermine an order in which it has little stake. A Soviet presence in Afghanistan, uncertainty in Iran, and the hint of superpower discussions on the region's future may well encourage a policy of accelerated reinsurance with the Soviet Union by the Gulf states. Saudi Arabia is a prize for Soviet policy in the Middle East. The attempt to prevent any normalization of relations with the West is best illustrated by Soviet policy during the hostage crisis. Soviet policy from autumn 1983 was therefore a tilt back toward Baghdad and the resumption of arms supplies to seek to redress the balance of power in the Gulf. Iranian criticisms of Soviet policy in Afghanistan were renewed, and Tehran's emphasis on “neither East nor West” was revived.
