PART ONE: An English lake, 1800-1945 -- Americans: No. 2 Englishmen in the Gulf -- The Second World War and the Persian Gulf -- PART TWO: Establishing a U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, 1946-1950 -- The Iran crisis of 1946 -- The oil scare of 1947-1948 -- Establishment of the Middle East force -- PART THREE: Assuring access to adequate oil supplies, 1950-1981 -- Arab nationalism and the defense of the Middle East -- The United States and Iran -- War, intervention, crisis and war -- The Nixon Doctrine and the twin pillars -- The Carter Administration and the Gulf -- PART FOUR: The United States, the Gulf, and the Iran-Iraq War, 1981-1988 -- "Not while this president serves": the reflagging decision -- The United States and the tanker war -- Conclusion -- Appendixes. A. Operation Praying Mantis, by Hans S Pawlisch -- B. Middle East Force chain of command -- C. Commanders, Middle East Force, 1949-1988.