The Arabian Gulf at the New Millennium: Security Challenges

Abstract

Gulf security has been a major concern for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Iran, Iraq, and the West, especially the United States. Perspectives on Gulf security, however, have always differed, and while analysts argue that there are three general categories of threat that could disrupt Arabian Gulf oil supplies, the dangers that loom over the horizon are far more serious than generally assumed. To be sure, “the overt use of force by regional hegemons armed with WMD [weapons of mass destruction]; domestic instability and terrorism within the Gulf states themselves; and conflict between regional and outside powers over control and access to the Caspian Basin” are all potential instigators of instability.1 Yet, the GCC countries themselves, until the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis, were never united in their perceptions of threats to regional security. Earlier, that is, prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution, they accepted the American perception, and relied on the U.S. security doctrine. Nevertheless, the collapse of the Shah’s regime and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, as well as the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, brought the security dilemma to the surface.KeywordsSaudi ArabiaForeign PolicyRegional SecurityGulf Cooperation CouncilTerritorial DisputeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.