ABSTRACT
A key to the handling of the Iraqi crisis in 1990 was the new Soviet-United States relationship, particularly the unprecedented cooperation between the superpowers in response to crises in the Third World. Soviet-United States cooperation, particularly efforts to resolve differences and work out United Nations (UN) authorization for the use of force, established an important precedent for conflict resolution throughout the Third World. Since 1987, Gorbachev encouraged a role for the United Nations in conflict resolution in the Third World as well as greater use of UN military observers and peacekeeping forces to separate warring parties and mediate disputes. Moscow cooperated fully with the UN Observer Group in Central America, which monitors compliance with the Central American agreement prohibiting use of territory to aid guerrilla operations in neighboring states. Moscow has reduced reliance on military influence in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf in order to pursue cooperation with the United States on a broad range of issues.
