From Here We Begin: A Survey of Scholarship on the International Relations of the Gulf

Abstract

Academic writing on the international relations of the Gulf has mushroomed over the last decade and a half, but for the most part the quality of work has not kept pace with the quantity. As a result, most literature on the topic adds little to our understanding of world politics, either in the region or in the world at large. This essay surveys the state of existing scholarship in three broad areas: foreign policy studies, security studies and the dynamics of interstate interaction. For the most part, it finds that works dealing with Gulf affairs are framed in terms of concepts and methodologies that lag far behind the times in each field, which makes it difficult if not impossible to integrate the region into larger theoretical debates. By indicating ways that literature on foreign policy, security and interstate interaction in the Gulf might close the gap with state-of-the-art scholarship, the paper hopes to encourage specialists in the region to pay greater attention to the kinds of arguments and research designs they employ, thereby raising the visibility and utility of their research beyond the narrow confines of Middle East studies.