Anwar Al-Sadat's Grand Strategy in the Yom Kippur War
Abstract
President Anwar al-Sadat utilized Egypt's military instrument to execute a brilliant political strategy in October 1973 to break the stalemate in the Arab-Israeli conflict and create conditions ultimately conducive to a settlement consistent with Egypt's interests. It is not in the movement of forces or clash of arms that one must seek the true significance of the 1973 war. Sadat executed a limited war to achieve Egypt s political objective of shaking [almost universal] belief in Israel's invincibility and Arab impotence, thus moving from a no war--no peace deadlock with Israel to opening the way for negotiation of an acceptable settlement of the Egyptian-Israeli conflict. His military commander planned a joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Israel designed--realistically--not to completely defeat Israel militarily, but to demonstrate to Israel and the rest of the world that the prevailing situation was unacceptable and that Israel's military power--the foundation of that situation--was not invincible. Though the military theater of war was limited, the political theater of war was total, and included the two world superpowers--the United States and the Soviet Union.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA442407
Entities
People
- Craig S. Girard
- James W. Bean
Organizations
- National War College