The Middle East has rarely been absent from the world's media since the end of World War 2. Next to East-West relations, its conflicts have provided the most intractable set of issues in international affairs. Inevitably, the United States became the major outside party. As the Arab-Israeli dispute came to dominate Middle East affairs, the Americans had to reconcile their wide-ranging strategic and economic interests with the domestic pressures to support Israel. This book analyses and illustrates the decisions reached in Washington and examines their impact on the region's quarrels.

Preface - Introduction - Truman's Search for a Middle East Policy - The United States and the Birth of Israel - Policy in the Cold War Era - The Transformation of America's Middle East Policy - Crisis Management: Nixon, Kissinger and the 1973 War - Step by Step - Carter: the Search for Peace - Reagan, Israel and Lebanon - Conclusion - Notes - Index