The Persian Gulf Security Architecture

Abstract

The Persian Gulf’s security architecture is inherently unstable and insecure due to four primary reasons. First, America’s heavy-handed presence in and “footprints” across the region are a source of chronic tension and resentment by both state and non-state actors throughout the region. Second, state actors feel vulnerable to external threats and therefore foster highly securitized national and regional environments. Third, this insecurity is reinforced by the rise of identity politics across national boundaries. Identity politics has always had a measure of salience across the Middle East in general and the Persian Gulf region in particular. This appeal would most likely not have been as powerful had it not been for the widespread inattention of state actors to elements of human security—the fourth reason for the instability of the prevailing security architecture.