FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE INFLUENCE OF THE US IN West Asian affairs steadily increased, so that by 1980 its fingerprints were to be seen in every significant development in the region. It played this role through behind-the-scenes persuasion, robust public coercion or direct military assault, while creating a strong cabal of local rulers who crucially came to depend on the US for the very survival of their regime and the security, and even the territorial integrity of their state.
