Another presidential election looms—and American Middle East policy is again subordinated for about a year to the political circus mandated by American-style democracy.

For Israel this American election is more crucial than ever. Economically desperate, Israel relies on an American umbilical cord, now weakening. The Jewish state's political isolation could become psychologically unbearable if U.S. Government attitudes begin shifting even as far as have those of Western Europe—which, for the first time, is a real possibility. Israel's strategic/military position, with or without the West Bank, is largely a function of American arms and perceived American determination. And most crucially, in the longer run, basic American public attitudes toward Israel will bp heavily influenced by the tone and content of the incoming administration.

For America in the fall of 1979 the strategic center of the world is the Persian Gulf, and I shall discuss the effect of Middle Eastern developments on the security of that area. Certainly, nothing that has occurred within the past few months is reassuring. Iran is ruled by a regime—one can hardly call it a government—that practices an indigenous form of fascism with a medieval Islamic overlay. Its basic outlook is xenophobic; it opposes Western concepts of progress and, therefore, the West itself—and particularly the United States.

Twice in these past twelve months portentous change has shaken the Middle East. First, the demise of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran and its replacement by a fundamentalist, theocratic regime; and second, on an entirely separate plane, the successful negotiation of a contractual peace between Egypt and Israel. These have truly been sensational changes in terms of their strategic significance. Though unrelated and dissimilar in their respective thrusts, each is revolutionary. Each in its own way has profoundly altered the balance of forces in that turbulent area. And not surprisingly, each has required American, European, Soviet, and other leaders to reassess some of the basic premises upon which their policies toward the Middle East have for years been predicated. Within the area, as well as outside it, each has evoked sharply mixed reactions—hope, concern, apprehension, and dissension, depending upon the point of view of the beholders.

The clay feet of one of the main idols of contemporary international relations have been found and his collapse is awaited. Some observers even go so far as to suggest that the fall of the idol will also bring about the political demise of the land from whose soil he rose and upon which he now rests his laurels.

Mohammed Anwar el-Sadat has a Bebe Rebozotype as a close friend and advisor whose very name has become a kind of “shorthand for corruption.” The president of a republic, he has created around himself the atmosphere of a royal court, an imperial and imperious presidency, and also pays little or no attention to his official advisors. Furthermore, his wife, unlike Nasser's, occasionally transcends the boundaries of convention regarding the- role of a woman and thus offends the sensibilities of Moslem society.

As s a black North American whose theological consciousness was shaped in the historical context of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and the subsequent rise of Black Power during the 1960's, I find it difficult to speak about the future of African theology without relating it to the struggle for freedom in the United Stales of America. The concern to accent the distinctiveness of the African context has led many African theologians to separate African theology, not only from traditional European theology, but also from American black theology.

She's an airline hostess, with the conventional beauty of the type. Above an open and smiling face the copy reads: “Lindsay MacGowan's grandfather came from Glasgow. Her grandmother came from Dublin. She wants to fly you home with her to Argentina.”

Lindsay and two of her compatriots were featured in an advertising campaign for Aerolineas Argentinas late last year. Their purpose was to persuade American readers of Business Week that Argentina and its national airline are European, which presumably suggests efficiency and, as the ad puts it, customer treatment that is “Stylish and rather grand,” not South American, which suggests the opposite.

To many Spaniards the country's journey back to democratic rule probably seems like a wild toboggan ride. The hectic succession of developments this year has done little to belie that impression.

During December, 1978, Spain's post-Franco constitution was adopted and the parliamentary elections that took place within three months, on March 1, resulted in major changes in the political balance. Then, on April 3, came the first municipal elections Spain has held since the Thirties, producing unprecedented gains for the Left. By May what little political calm the country managed to preserve was diminished even further by the onset of a severe crisis within the Socialist Workers' party, the country's second most important political force. The midyear negotiations between Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez and the major political groups did arrive at long last at an accord on autonomy status for the Basque and Catalonian regions, a development that served to break up a major political logjam.