Soviet Perceptions Of The Oil Factor In U.s. Foreign Policy

How Soviet leaders perceive U.S. intentions, capabilities, and actions plays an important role in the formation of the Soviet Union's foreign policy and its relations with the United States. This book focuses on one set of Soviet perceptions--how the oil shortages and subsequent developments influenced U.S. policy in the Middle East-Gulf region, and what the implications of that policy are for the Soviet Union. Although the 1973 energy crisis and related events all represented severe blows to Washington, there were costs for Moscow as well; negative developments for one superpower, says Dr. Sawyer, do not necessarily result in unadulterated gains for the other. Emphasizing this theme, he assesses Soviet perceptions of the 1973 energy crisis and the intensification of U.S. interest in the Middle East-Gulf region; the Camp David accords and the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty; the impact of the Iranian revolution on U.S. and Soviet positions in the region; the effect of the Soviet invasion of Afganistan on U.S. policy; the Iraqi-Iranian war; and the Soviet response to Washington's concern over U.S. energy vulnerability.