ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the interaction between the allies and the Western Alliance in the wake of the series of crises which have recently emanated from the Middle East involving energy, the Arab-Israeli dispute, the instability of the Persian Gulf and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The most distinctive and dramatic alliance crisis since 1945 actually occurred long before 1973 over the Egyptian nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 and many would argue that the Western Alliance has never been the same since. The book discusses the basic problems confronted and policies pursued in the Middle East by the USA, the Common Market countries and Japan, respectively. It analyzes the reaction of the three major non-Arab powers toward the Western Alliance, their Arab neighbors and their own weighty specific problems.
