War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of Essay - 1

War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war serve the political objectives o - Essay Example The main reason behind this is the fact that politicians opt not to be too specific as they worry that if there is failure for the objectives to be attained, foreign leaders and local opponents will regard the entire exercise as a failure. Due to this, rather than being defined as measurable objectives, foreign policy objectives are defined in terms of goals or aims. Unclear and ambiguous political strategic objectives are of little or no use to operational planners.3 In terms of expression, political strategic objectives can be articulated in broad or narrow terms. Broadly articulated political objectives are most of the time applied in situations that do not involve vital national interests. Through this, it becomes easier for the political leadership to admit to a compromise without losing international reputation or domestic support. Narrowly articulated political strategic objectives on the other hand need to be comprehensively accomplished, or then the political and additional costs for the political leadership might be exorbitant. Vego asserts that â€Å"yet, in a situation where vital national interests are at stake, there is usually no choice but to fight to the finish†.4 During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Syria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the United States, who were the principal participants in the war, had various individual political objectives. The objective of Syria and Egypt were to recover their occupied territories, which were the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights region respectively. Although it did not initiate the war, Israel had the objective of preserving its national security, which was made possible by occupying the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Maintaining control of the Tiran Straits located at the Sinai region was also crucial for Israel’s economic dominance. Palestine wanted to regain its territories from the Israel Jewish majority, who had for a long time prospered, as the Palestinian minority continued to suffer, with some of them living as refugees. Saudi Arabia had the objective of defending the union of the coalition among Cairo, Damascus and Riyadh; it therefore used the oil embargo as its political instrument during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Through this, Saudi Arabia could pressure Israel and the west to reach a fair agreement regarding the Palestinian issue. It could also be able to restrain the United States military support to Israel, as well as balance Israel’s military dominance. The United States was also involved in this war as it came in as an assistant to Israel. Its main political objectives were to; bring about a general extinction of the Soviet Union as a superpower in the Middle East and take its position; gain a political settlement with the ability to bring about a transformation in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which would change the conflict to a small territorial one and remove it from its ideological