ABSTRACT
The very uncertainty that hangs over the world role of the United States in the strategic-diplomatic realm obliges to be more prescriptive than predictive about US policy in the Middle East. In theory the United States, as the main economic and military prop of Israel, has had the means to break the deadlock by threatening to withhold assistance. The collapse of the US-Palestine Liberation Organization dialogue, Yasser Arafat's fateful decision to lean toward Saddam Hussein in the crisis over Kuwait, and close cooperation between the United States and Israel during the Gulf war have hardened positions on all sides. Arafat's position among his own people and in relation to Israel is completely different. In the meantime, the US role should merely be to preserve the balance of power—which favors Israel—and to continue to provide economic assistance to or remain economically involved in friendly Arab states—to keep them friendly.
