The INF Treaty and the Persian Gulf

There is today a contradiction to be seen in the foreign policy of the Reagan administration. On the one hand, President Reagan is expected to join Premier Gorbachev in December in signing a treaty to eliminate all land-based intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) in Europe and Asia. On the other hand, President Reagan, ostensibly to protect Kuwaiti tankers flying the U.S. flag, has assembled a huge armada of some thirty U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, and by this means is carrying on an active military intervention in the affairs of the peoples of the Mideast, bringing the United States to the verge of war with Iran. This would be a war to keep the royal family of Saudi Arabia and the other feudal rulers of the Persian Gulf on their thrones and so to preserve the profitable deals the U.S. oil corporations have made with them.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website

Contradiction · Economic history · Feudalism · Foreign policy · Gulf war · Intervention (counseling) · Middle East · North Atlantic Treaty · Persian · Political science · Politics · Treaty · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · History · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts