Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Plainly, the Arab leaders were playing politics with the mosque fire. It scarcely seemed to matter to them that an itinerant Australian Christian had confessed to setting the blaze. Nor did Arab leaders bother to note that Al Aqsa compound, far from being fireproof, had been the scene of blazes in 1949 and 1964, during Jordanian rule. What did matter was that, because millions of Arabs reflexively held Israel responsible for the latest fire, guerrilla organizations were strengthened in their hard-line anti-Israeli positions. Arab governments adopted correspondingly tough stances in an effort to match the extremists' thunder...
Counsels of Caution. Despite the incendiary speeches and the orchestrated street demonstrations in Arab capitals, few experts expected a major conflagration. Part of the world, at least, seemed to be learning to live less nervously with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Last spring President Nixon described the Middle East as a "powder keg," needing only the tiniest spark to explode. Last week, however, Washington viewed the current situation coolly, and the State Department said merely that it was counseling "restraint" to both sides. Moscow made no comment publicly, but U.S. diplomats believe that the Soviets have no interest in escalating hostilities...
...their bombast, Arab leaders indicated that they were inclined to be cautious. In Cairo the 14 nations of the Arab League met for the first time in more than three years and prudently decided against any immediate action. Because of the deep rivalries among so many Arab leaders, the league decided against a summit meeting...
...Kremlin's expensive efforts to buy influence have succeeded in opening eastern Mediterranean ports to Soviet warships. Ironically, the Moscow-financed buildup of Arab armies also played a major role in starting the 1967 war-and thus in closing the Suez Canal, the only practical Soviet naval route to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The 1967 disaster did, however, produce one advantage for Moscow: the intensive retraining needed by the shattered Egyptian forces enabled the Soviets to penetrate them with instructors, down to battalion and squadron level...
...strategic terms, the Soviet involvement in the Middle East could prove an even more hazardous venture. Having assumed the role of armorers and advisers to the Arabs,, they can preserve and extend their influence only if they succeed in substantially improving Arab military capability. As the Arabs improve under Russian tutelage, however, they will grow increasingly impatient to tackle the Israelis once more-and invite another humiliation. As one Russian military adviser recently told an East European ambassador in Cairo, it will take "a generation" for Egyptian military skills to exceed Israel's. Whether the Egyptians or their brethren...