ABSTRACT
The United States arrived reluctantly as an active player in the Persian Gulf, but after a quarter-century of resistance, turmoil, and false starts, it emerged as the unquestioned military and political power in the region. The collapse of the shah's regime in February 1979 was the death knell for the US Twin Pillar policy. From the beginning, the policy had been predicated on a close personal relationship with the shah. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan just before Christmas in 1979 reawakened fears of a Soviet drive to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The practical effect of the Soviet invasion was to terminate the efforts of the Carter administration to seek mutual accommodation with the Soviet Union, including support for the SALT II treaty. On May 18, 1993, two months after President Clinton took office, Martin Indyk of the National Security Council staff spelled out the broad outlines of what he called America's "dual containment" policy in the Persian Gulf.
