ABSTRACT
The wide-ranging implications of the rapidly accelerating Soviet–American detente of the late 1980s, the revolutions that swept Eastern Europe, the acknowledged end of the Cold War by 1990, and the demise of the Soviet Union were not lost on either side in the Arab–Israeli conflict. Israelis viewed the end of the Cold War and the impact of world power realities in two ways. Some argued that withdrawal of Soviet support for the Arab states made it less likely that the Arabs would make war or fight one to a successful conclusion. The international response was immediate and overwhelming. On August 6, the Security Council unanimously adopted a comprehensive trade embargo against Iraq, and President Bush called for collective action to enforce it. By the end of November, the Bush administration believed that military force would have to be used to dislodge Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
