Much of OPEC's bargaining power resulted from capital forces of supply and demand. OPEC had the supply, we supplied the demand. Even the Shah of Iran, seemingly perched atop his ivory tower as the only pro-American power outside a besieged Israel, exploited the situation of the early 70's and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War in order to increase his oil revenues. Qadaffy too had simply exploited the market (and the desire of smaller U.S. oil companies to gain a larger market share,) in his groundbreaking negotiations for higher per-barrel oil prices. The result was a destabilizing realization on the part of the administration and public that U.S. interests were seriously challenged by non-Soviets. This opened up a second front in the war of "us vs. them" in the 1970's.