|
Soviet Union [USSR] Other Middle Eastern States
Soviet relations with several Arab states improved during the
mid- to late 1980s. In late 1985, Oman and the United Arab Emirates
established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Relations
also improved with Bahrain, Kuwait, the Yemen Arab Republic (North
Yemen), Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. This Soviet policy of
improving ties with Western-oriented Arab states, as well as with
the radical regimes of Syria and South Yemen, indicated a shift in
Soviet policy away from the forging of a radical bloc of states
toward a more flexible diplomatic approach to Middle Eastern
problems. A major objective of this more flexible Soviet policy was
to achieve the convening of an Arab-Israeli conference in which the
Soviet Union would act as the primary peace broker. The Soviet
Union began pursuing this objective in the 1970s as part of its
general effort to erode United States influence in the region.
Gorbachev pursued closer ties with several moderate Middle
Eastern states--Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel--while
maintaining ties with radical regimes such as those in Syria,
Libya, and South Yemen. In May 1987, Kuwait sought Soviet
protection of its shipping in the Persian Gulf, and the Soviet
Union agreed to let Kuwait charter Soviet-flagged tankers to
transport oil. The Soviet Union also increased the size of its
naval task force in the Persian Gulf. For the first time since the
expulsion of Soviet military advisers in 1972 and the abrogation of
the 1971 Soviet-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in
1976, a Soviet ambassador was posted to Cairo in 1985. Also, the
Soviet Union agreed to reschedule Egypt's military debts on
favorable terms. The Soviet Union agreed to provide Jordan with new
weaponry, and Jordan's King Hussein announced his support for the
convening of an international conference on the Middle East in
which the Soviet Union would participate. This improvement in
relations occurred despite Jordan's arrest of local communist party
leaders in the spring of 1986. Lastly, the Soviet Union made
several overtures to Israel in 1985-89 regarding reestablishment of
diplomatic relations--severed in June 1967 as a result of the June
1967 war--in an attempt to gain Israeli support for an
international conference on the Middle East. The Soviet Union had
de-emphasized its previous condition that Israel withdraw from
territories occupied during the Arab-Israeli June 1967 War before
the reestablishment of relations, but the Israelis insisted on
restoration of relations before the convening of the international
conference. In 1987-88 the Soviet Union and Israel exchanged
consular missions, but as of 1989 full diplomatic relations had not
been restored.
Data as of May 1989
|
