ABSTRACT
The international oil crisis associated with the Yom Kippur War of 1973 made a profound impact on thinking in Western Europe about the current status of the Middle East as the historic land-bridge between that region and the Indian Ocean basin as well as between Asia and Africa. Taking the broad view, however, Western Europe has a great general interest in orderly economic and social progress all around the Indian Ocean basin. The political involvement of the Netherlands in the Indian Ocean was drastically curtailed when Indonesia became independent in 1949. Even up to the present time the British role outside Europe has tended to clash with the French. An Order in Council promulgated on 8 November 1965 duly authorised the establishment of a new colony to be named the British Indian Ocean Territory and to comprise certain islands that had been designated to provide defence facilities. The British Indian Ocean Territory has been preserved as a political entity.
