During the period dealt with in this chapter, roughly 1960-1975, there was no direct confrontation in Europe between the United States and the Soviet Union. On the contrary, Moscow and Washington began to cooperate on broader disarmament issues and they negotiated a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and an Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as well as a series of other agreements.364 Yet, it was also a period of rivalry in the Mediterranean, and the Soviet Union ultimately suffered substantial political setbacks after making serious advances up to the late 1960s. In the aftermath of the 1967
Arab-Israeli war, the Kremlin had a chance to solidify its relations with the oil-producing Arab states. At the same time, Moscow could capitalize diplomatically on America’s association with Israel and the US collaboration with European fascist, authoritarian, and neocolonial regimes. Soviet leaders hoped to align themselves with the exploited "South" against a rapacious "North." But the Soviets miscalculated and their ambitions collapsed. They mistakenly severed diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv and weakened their diplomatic leverage. They overestimated the ideological affinity between themselves and Arab nationalists and did not have the economic power and geopolitical leverage to exert significant influence. In effect, the United States was able to combine its "hard" and its "soft" power to regain its position of supremacy in the Middle East. The Western European states, meanwhile, were unable to adopt a unified Mediterranean policy due to their conflicting agendas and imperial legacies. Their response to the Arab-Israeli crisis was confused and reflected their vulnerability to the Arab oil weapon. The United States alone was strong enough to exert its will in the region diplomatically, economically, and politically.
Henry Kissinger’s declaring 1973 to be the "year of Europe" has often been met with criticism. But although transatlantic relations were at a low ebb and although US actions often antagonized its NATO partners, the accession of Britain, Ireland, and Denmark to the EEC opened the way for the subsequent inclusion of southern Europe’s former dictatorships. No longer did the West have a vulnerable southern flank. Seeing the region as one integrated whole helps us understand the significance ofthe transformations that took place: the Soviet Union lost its position in the Middle East, and Spain, Portugal, and Greece transformed themselves politically, strengthened democratic institutions, and became a bulwark against Soviet designs. The Cold War entered a new phase. With the Mediterranean solidly in the US orbit, Africa became the new battlefield.
World History
