FOREWORDxxxi
domains. Most of them specialized in Arabic and therefore were also more knowl-
edgeable about the culture and politics of the region. Since they accompanied higher-
ranking officers, they were exposed to more privileged information than ordinary
lieutenants or captains, and thus ranked high on one of our credibility tests: the likeli-
hood that the writer might have had first-hand knowledge in real time.
The reader must have concluded by now that what follows can hardly be pigeon-
holed into any rigid sub-discipline of history; rather, it combines, and moves among,
military, diplomatic, social and even cultural historiography. For the most part, it
forgoes any presumption to “magisterial sweep” in favor of cumulative detail. We
trust that an overview will emerge from our blend of blow-by-blow chronolog y,
thumbnail biography and forensic investigation. Purists may disapprove, but we con-
sider that this eclectic approach has brought us a step or two closer to fuller and
deeper comprehension of the long-past chapter in our own lives that we have relived
vicariously through the eyes of our sources/protagonists.
Finally, readers of Foxbats may notice some fine-tuning of our argument. Since we
completed that book, further evidence has emerged which—most gratifyingly—in
nearly every case confirmed our overall thesis. Several factual errors required correc-
tion, which we completed in a follow-up essay. But our overall concept has also con-
tinued to evolve, and to the extent that this book differs from its predecessor, the
exposition here reflects the present—but not necessarily final—state of our research.
We were flattered and encouraged when the validity of both our methodolog y and
our findings was recognized by citations in the most authoritative new surveys of
regional arenas and Soviet foreign policy in the Cold War.^68 Retaining this trust
demands that we constantly reappraise our own work, and any constructive critique
that may help us improve it will be gratefully welcomed.