International Relations in the Middle East, 1945–1990

The international system has many features not found in national political orders. The most important of these features is the lack of a legitimate sovereign power, or even of some entity with a viable claim to the exercise of sovereign power. The relationships between international actors embrace a wide field of human activity. International relations occur at many levels and in many functional arenas. No state can isolate itself from international trade because to do so it would have to reduce its economic activity greatly. The origins of the contemporary international order can be found in the deterioration of the system that emerged just after World War II and prevailed until the early 1970s. The United States as well as all of the recognized powers and superpowers had entered a period in which international political power was shared, a dramatic change from the era of unilateral intervention that preceded it.