Another Arab-Israel war would “almost inevitably” involve the United States and the Soviet Union, the Institute for Strategic Studies warned yesterday.
The Institute released a study that found the danger of miscalculation in the Middle East to be “considerable.” It warned that the growing Soviet power in the Mediterranean will make it increasingly difficult for the U.S. to consider even a partial withdrawal.
A major point stressed was that Soviet influence over Egypt is now far beyond that of the U.S. in Israel. The Institute attached great importance to the control by each major power of its client states. The report suggested that the Super Powers “rather than just containing each other will find themselves forced together to contain conflicts.”
A main point troubling the Institute was whether Moscow would tolerate “smaller military operations by her Arab clients against Israel…The danger that such smaller action could escalate beyond that which the Soviet Union may be prepared to tolerate or can effectively control is likely to grow.”
The Institute was founded in 1948 as an international center for research on defense, world security, and disarmament. It has an international council drawn from 15 Allied and neutral nations and has access to official information.
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