Because both superpowers recognized the importance of the Middle East for furthering their Cold War objectives, they vied with one another to form alliances with regimes throughout the region. The Soviet Union generally sought alliances with Arab nationalist governments, such as in Egypt, whereas the United States preferred to throw its support behind absolute monarchies in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Moreover, in accordance with the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957, the US government opted for a more interventionist policy, promising financial and military aid to Middle Eastern countries threatened by international communism.

XREF: Parallels contemporary great-power competition for influence in the Middle East, where similar alliance-forging dynamics persist.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 246