Among the nations of the world Israel is unique. Founded in 1948, it is small in size and population, located in a critical geographic area, and has been, especially prior to the June 1967 War, strategically vulnerable. It is surrounded by hostile neighbors and has lived in a state of continuous siege since the achievement of its independence. Its immediate origins were highlighted by the explicit support of two world bodies, the League of Nations and the United Nations. It enjoys the support of a world-wide constituency haunted by memories of the Second World War which exterminated almost the entire European Jewish community. It was created as a homeland for the Jewish people as a whole, and as a consequence a larger number of persons identifying with the state live outside its borders than within. Finally, it has found itself involved in no less than five wars during its short history. It is these wars and the basic factor underlying them – the conflict with the Arab states – which has drawn a wide range of political and academic attention to the foreign policy of Israel.

Inquisitiveness with regard to one of the principal states in the Middle East notwithstanding, little of scholarly worth has been published on the subject up to the early 1970s. Prominent in its absence until then was an academic analysis of one of the state's significant characteristics – its global foreign policy orientation between East and West. The broad outline of the subject is, however, generally known.