Washington had strong reasons to pressure Britain and France without fighting them, since attacking NATO allies would endanger American basing rights in Europe and the alliance on which it depended. Soviet intervention is therefore the route explored in this wider-war counterfactual. The Soviet Navy of 1956 was poorly placed to challenge the Anglo-French naval force in the eastern Mediterranean. A military confrontation would depend on decisions by the superpowers and the constraints imposed by their alliances.
Chapter · 2:22-4:10
What would make Suez become a wider war?
The wider-war scenario turns on Soviet intervention because American military action against Britain and France would threaten NATO and American basing rights.