A Study in contrast: Central America & the Persian Gulf
Hehir, J. Bryan
WORLD WATCH J. Bryan Hehir A STUDY IN CONTRAST CENTRAL AMERICA & THE PERSIAN GULF he Iran-contra investiga tion has focused attention on past policy in the Middle East and Central...
...The contras have their own goals, but U.S...
...The second issue is the Iran-Iraq war...
...14 August 1987...
...There is no comparable convergence of interests between U.S...
...On both freedom of navigation and the Iran-Iraq war, the superpowers share some interests...
...In the Middle East, Soviet presence is recognized and grudgingly tolerated...
...The Soviets watched their influence decline in the 1970s, but Mr...
...However, the U.S...
...439...
...Meanwhile, the government continues to shape future policy in both areas...
...reflagging operation has a diplomatic parallel in the push for United Nations action, yet the reflagging too closely resembles the intervention of the Marines in Lebanon: a distant extension of military force without larger political direction...
...In the Persian Gulf, the geopolitics of the U.S.-Soviet competition are clear for all to see...
...interests in the long-term evolution of Nicaragua or Central America...
...and Soviet interests...
...But different situations require different responses...
...Of course, you can't define the policy problem in either region without looking at the role and capabilities of the Soviet Union...
...This determination by...
...neither desires a clearcut victory for either of the warring parties...
...Neither superpower is prepared to allow its rival an undisputed influence in the Gulf or the region...
...Is it wise to try to exclude the Soviets from the region's politics...
...The result, whether by default or design: the superpowers' con tribution has been more evident in continuing the war than in terminating it...
...support for them effectively addresses neither U.S...
...It is a misplaced effort, showing little success and consuming Nicaraguan lives in a superpower test of wills...
...The third issue, of course, is freedom of navigation for non-military vessels in the Gulf...
...responses in the Gulf and Central America are indeed different...
...What they share is a common emphasis on military force...
...The prevailing U.S...
...Direct U.S...
...Both superpowers have been supplying arms...
...Certainly the two situations are dramatically different in their specifics...
...The stakes for each power are very different...
...Gorbachev seems to be making a concerted effort to restore his nation's Mideast presence...
...response to the Soviets in Central America seems to be principally embodied in support for the contras...
...Even the Soviet-Cuban alliance, dating from the 1960s cannot compare with the historic Russian interests in the Mideast generally and the Persian Gulf specifically...
...is similar: both policies involve a "test" of U.S.Soviet relations in the third world...
...Yet, in both regions the United States faces the Soviet Union...
...The beginning of policy wisdom, therefore, is to distinguish between these two fronts...
...debate about "reflagging" is actually only part of the larger picture...
...concerns about the Soviets in Central America nor U.S...
...Or should we acknowledge a legitimate Soviet role and seek some form of collaborative diplomacy...
...policy preclude an assessment that this situation is comparable to the Persian Gulf...
...Although the threat of a Soviet "beachhead" in Central America has been repeatedly invoked during the Iran-contra hearings, Moscow's capabilities and commitments there are far more modest than in the Middle East...
...It is this last question which Kuwait's request concerning its oil tankers has raised for both superpowers this summer...
...In brief, both Soviet capability and U.S...
...and Soviet perspectives on Central America...
...in Central America it will be opposed in principle...
...On the other hand, the USSR's capacity to project its power is less substantial in Central America than in the Mideast...
...engagement of the Soviets, superpower to superpower - about the limited interests we share in the Persian Gulf and the unacceptability of Soviet involvement in Central America - is what is now needed...
...has been highly visible in the region over the last twenty years...
...Thanks to America's relationship with Israel and to the diplomacy of Kissinger and Carter, the U.S...
...The degree of shared interest with the Soviets has never been great, but the Persian Gulf offers more possibilities for defining some degree of common persepctive than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has ever offered...
...The U.S...
...The U.S...
...This ad hoc convergence offers the possibility of lim ited cooperation...
...does not envision a significant role in the region for any major outside power - above all, not for the Soviet Union...
...both superpow ers not only to be players in the broader Mideast picture, but to be seen as players, is the first of three issues at the center of U.S.-Soviet competition in the Persian Gulf...
...WORLD WATCH J. Bryan Hehir A STUDY IN CONTRAST CENTRAL AMERICA & THE PERSIAN GULF he Iran-contra investiga tion has focused attention on past policy in the Middle East and Central America...
...In the Gulf, Soviet interests and capabilities are far greater than in Central America, but so is the degree of possible, although still partial, convergence between U.S...
...That is enough for some observers to conclude that the challenge for the U.S...
Vol. 114 • August 1987 • No. 14
