ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the strategy and geography of Western-Soviet military relations with special focus upon the Middle East-Persian Gulf region. The East-of-Suez debate in Britain in the mid-1960s was followed by the decision in 1968 to withdraw forces from the Persian Gulf by 1971. In order to resolve some of its outstanding problems and harness the riches that lie in the virgin territories in Siberia and the Soviet Far East, the Soviet Union needs a period of international peace plus very generous capital investments in its underdeveloped sectors. Everything suggests that whatever Soviet strategy is chosen, it should be one that exploits the Soviet Union's military power in subtle ways in order to fragment the alliance and obtain access to energy and other technologies. The Soviet Union would not have to contemplate sinking US ships if the Soviets moved into the Persian Gulf unless US or North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were positioned there to blunt the attack.
