This nonpolemical discussion of America's policy towards Israel exposes the controversy surrounding whether Israel has strategic value to the USA or is instead a liability. The author draws his source material from scholars who write in the general media as well as those who write in specialized international and strategic security journals. Throughout the work, proponents of opposing positions are allowed to speak for themselves. Among the issues Mansour discusses are the forging of Israel's strategic role from 1948 to 1973; its reassessment after the October 1973 War to 1980; strategic alliance and the New World Order from 1981 to 1992; and a wide range of subjects such as the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Suez Crisis, the Camp David Process, the invasion of Lebanon, and the influence of the pro-Israeli lobby on American society and the Jewish community.