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The Arab Middle East and the United States: Inter-Arab Rivalry and Superpower Diplomacy

Burton I. Kaufman
Reviewed by By William B. Quandt
September/October 1996
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Burton I. Kaufman
Twayne Publishers
1996
291 pp.
$26.95

An introduction to American Middle East policy since World War II, this straightforward history emphasizes the importance of inter-Arab divisions, the Cold War, and the role of oil, especially in the 1970s and again in 1990. A few issues are shortchanged, such as Israel's nuclear capabilities, which recent research shows to have had an important impact on American thinking from the mid-1960s on. Apart from the useful text, the author has provided a detailed chronology of events and a comprehensive bibliographical essay.

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