Soviet Entrance to the Middle East and Manoeuvring between Superpowers—the Case of Israel and Egypt

What is it about?

The Soviet Union entered the Middle East only after WW2, challenging the British and American dominance there. During the Cold War such change could be done only by cooperating with local actors. Israel and then Egypt offered new opportunities, that Stalin and Khrushchev seized in rather different ways to upgrade the presence of Moscow throughout the Middle East and the developing world. Israel and Egypt chose a strategy of balancing between the superpowers. Leaning each time towards Moscow or Washington, Jerusalem and Cairo thus maximized their gains.

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