Dan's reaction to the Turkish entry was what threw things off. And add in the fact that you have the least experienced player of the bunch running the USSR.
So not only does he have to face off against the best player in the group running Germany, but now he has the pressure of Turkey on his southern doorstep.
I think that Dan would have been alright if he had just gotten his UK fleet out of the Med and into the Red Sea/Indian Ocean. That and maintain a stiff resistance in Cairo.
While Cairo might have eventually fallen, it would have lasted long enough to get to the point where the US is in the war.
Craig