America and the Persian Gulf

Steve A. Yetiv, an assistant professor of political science at Old DominionUniversity in Virginia and a research affiliate at the Center for Middle EasternStudies at Harvard University, has written a most interesting book on what hecalls the "third-party dimension in world politics." Based on his doctoral dissertation, Yetiv’s thesis, which at first glance seems a simple and natural way toview the cause-and-effect relationships of historical events and conflicts, is farmore complex. No “domino theory,” which focuses on the primary actors, thethird-party dimension in world politics, as its name implies, focuses on the“third-party” actor, or actors, vis-8-vis events on the world stage.Primarily concerned with how conflict in the Persian Gulf area in the late1970’s, 1980’s and early 1990’s affected the United States’ position in theMiddle East, America and the Persian Gulf generally examines the third-partysituation and, in particular, how its position changes-for better or worse-as aresult of the actions of the main participants and other third parties who areactive or passive participants in diplomatic crises, conflicts, and revolutions.Furthermore, in emphasizing its importance, Professor Yetiv writes that byexamining “the conditions under which the third party is weakened or strengthenedby conflict. . . we may learn more about the utility of statecraft, the politicsof rapidly changing conflictual regions of the world, conflict processes andoutcomes, and conflict avoidance and resolution.” He goes on to state that “thestudy of the third party will tell us something about the third party itself be it astate, an international organization, or some other actor in world politics.” Lastbut not least, it “can also inform us about the context in which the third partyplays a role, the long-term role of the third party in that context, other contextswhich the third party affects, and the nature and impact of conflict in general”(p. 158).