doctrine will enable USCENTCOM to make effective use of a reduced force structure. This paper will address these issues and will thereby provide a strategic vision of the Middle East through the end of the twentieth century.
"Winds of Change" in the Middle East.
There have been many recent developments in the Middle East region, and these developments will have a significant effect on U.S. military policy, planning and operations over the next decade. One of the most important changes has been the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet empire has brought about a dramatic alteration in the role of the United States and its allies in the Middle East. In the past, U.S. policy in the Middle East was focused on the containment of Soviet expansionism. This situation first arose in the mid-1950s, when the Soviet Union began providing military aid to certain Arab nations. In order to counter the spread of Soviet influence, the United States began providing military aid to its own allies in the region. This policy of Soviet containment became obsolete with the ending of the Cold War in the late 1980s. Despite this fact, U.S. policy-makers are still faced with several enduring problems in the area. In the words of the historian Steven Z. Freiberger: "Although the end of the Cold War bodes well for the future of the Middle East, many unresolved issues from the 1950s remain."
One enduring problem is the need for the U.S. military to protect oil interests in the Persian Gulf. Since the 1950s, America's involvement in the Middle East has centered around the importance of maintaining access to oil supplies. As a result, U.S. national policy has included the use of military force whenever necessary in order to protect that access. The emphasis on protecting supplies of Middle East oil is based on the assumption that the relatively inexpensive oil of the region is needed in ord...