The Cold War, the Arab world, and West Germany's 'Mediterranean moment', 1967-73

After 1967, West Germany started to develop its own 'Arab policy'. Its initial focus was not the Arab peninsula, but North Africa, particularly Algeria and Libya. The main reasons were what Bonn perceived to be strategic necessity in the face of a Soviet advance there and convenience, as the North African states seemed more open to West German overtures in the late 1960s. But Bonn's strategy failed. By 1973 it re-calibrated its policy towards the Arab peninsula. Overall, this West German 'Mediterranean moment' illustrates how this 'Arab policy' was motivated by the dynamics of the Cold War in Central Europe.