The politics of patronage : Israel and Egypt between the superpowers 1962-1973

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the interaction between two weak states and their superpower patrons through the application of a theoretical analysis of the 'power of the weak' to the study of the political and military conduct of relations between Israel, Egypt, the United States and the Soviet Union in the period from 1962 to 1973. The thesis establishes some of the conditions under which lesser powers, engaged in a protracted conflict and dependent upon the military, economic and political support of the superpowers, could nevertheless resist and thereby influence the policies of their patrons. ii In the Arab-Israeli context, the thesis examines the effect that the politics of patronage have had on the conduct and settlement of the conflict and analyses the successes and failures of Israeli and Egyptian diplomacy in securing the support of their superpower patrons while resisting the imposition of an order inimical to their own interests