ABSTRACT
From 1990 through 1992 important changes took place within the Arab system. These stemmed from three main sources: (a) The Gulf crisis, which changed the balance of power in the Arab world, particularly in the Gulf area, and affected the Arab-Israel peace process as well as the role of the powers in the Middle East, (b) The collapse of the Soviet Union, which affected not only the powers’ involvement in the region, but also the behavior of the Arab actors affiliated to them. And (c) internal issues within most of the Arab states, which created a shift in the inner balance of power in some of them. Prominent among the internal issues were economic distress, which enlarged the circle of dissatisfaction with regime policies; growing demands on the part of various groups for a share in power and for democratization; a greater tendency to return to Islamic sources as a solution to socioeconomic and personal distress; and health problems of key leaders. The outcome was a growing potential risk of instability for several Arab regimes-though most were still relatively stable-or at least significant constraints upon their freedom of action.
