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The Persian Gulf, important because of its vast energy resources, emerged into the limelight of geopolitics at the time of the British Labour government’s policy of withdrawal from East of Suez in 1968. Before 1968 it had been recognised that the Gulf lay in the legitimate sphere of influence of Britain, while the United States exerted its influence in the two pivotal littoral states of Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Soviets had been gaining influence in Iraq ever since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958 and the Chinese were also fishing for influence by their support of the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Arabian Gulf. This book examines the political axes of the various super-powers with Iran and the Persian Gulf and discusses the implications of these problems for the issue of security in the region.
This book, first published in 1994, provides a comprehensive treatment of a crucial set of geopolitical issues from a region where political developments are observed with great care and some trepidation by the rest of the world. Based on expert analysis by leading researchers, the book is the first English-language to deal collectively with the origins and contemporary status of land and maritime boundaries in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula. The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was the gravest challenge yet posed to the system of small states established by Britain during its stay as a protecting power along the western Gulf littoral. Immediately, questions were raised about the origins of the...
Research completed January 1993.
Gregory Gause's masterful book is the first to offer a comprehensive account of the international politics in the Persian Gulf across nearly four decades. The story begins in 1971 when Great Britain ended its protectorate relations with the smaller states of the lower Gulf. It traces developments in the region from the oil 'revolution' of 1973–4 through the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf war of 1990–1 to the toppling of Saddam Hussein in the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, bringing the story of Gulf regional politics up to 2008. The book highlights transnational identity issues, regime security and the politics of the world oil market, and charts the changing mix of interests and ambitions driving American policy. The author brings his experience as a scholar and commentator on the Gulf to this riveting account of one of the most politically volatile regions on earth.
This book analyzes four main episodes of conflict and defense which have affected the region during the last three decades: the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), which effected the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from a close, neighborly distance; the Iraq-Kuwait war (1990-1991), which constituted an attempt to invade the GCC and eliminate one of its member states, Kuwait. And the subsequent attempts to reestahblish a regional inter-state stability in the Gulf (during the mid-1990s, approximately), and the war of Islamic terrorism (notably al-Qa'ida) against Saudi Arabia (leading up to 2005). Each episode was driven by inimical interests and evolved as a distabilizintg influence on the Gulf states. At the same time, each conflict resulted in a paradoxical combination rivalry and cooperation among the GCC states themselves. A perpetual sequence of conflict and cooperation thus developed.
Exploring the history of the Persian Gulf from ancient times until the present day, leading authorities treat the internal history of the region and describe the role outsiders have played there. The book focuses on the unity and identity of Gulf society and how the Gulf historically has been part of a cosmopolitan Indian Ocean world.
The Persian (or Arab) Gulf countries produce about 30 per cent of the planet's oil, and keep in the ground around 55 per cent of its crude oil reserves, hence the stability of the region's autocratic regimes is vital to the world's economic and political future. Yet paradoxically, despite its reputation as the most traditional of regions, the Persian Gulf holds out great promise to those who support political liberalization. But is political liberalization in the region part of an inexorable drive toward democratization - or simply a means for autocratic regimes to consolidate and legitimize their rule? This book sheds new light on this fascinating trend, revealing varying levels of commitment to reform across eight Gulf states as they respond to the challenges of increased wealth and education levels, a developing middle class, external actors, and competing social and political groups.
For much of the contemporary history of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf has stood at the center of the region’s strategic significance. At the same time, the Gulf has been wracked by political instability and tension. As far back as the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Britain zeroed in on the Persian Gulf as a critical passageway to its crown jewel, India, and entered into protectorate agreements with local ruling families, thus bestowing on them international legitimacy and, eventually, the resources and support necessary to ascend to kingships. Today, the region is undergoing profound changes that range from rapid economic and infrastructural development to tumultuous so...
The contradictory trends of the 'post-Arab Spring' landscape form both the backdrop to, and the focus of, this volume on the changing security dynamics of the Persian Gulf, defined as the six GCC states plus Iraq and Iran. The political and economic upheaval triggered by the uprisings of 2011, and the rapid emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2014, have underscored the vulnerability of regional states to an intersection of domestic pressures and external shocks. The initial phase of the uprisings has given way to a series of messy and uncertain transitions that have left societies deeply fractured and ignited violence both within and across states. The bulk of the protests, with the notable exception of Bahrain, occurred outside the Gulf region, but Persian Gulf states were at the forefront of the political, economic, and security response across the Middle East. This volume provides a timely and comparative study of how security in the Persian Gulf has evolved and adapted to the growing uncertainty of the post-2011 regional landscape.
This book examines changes in the Persian Gulf security complex following the United States (US) invasion of Iraq in 2003, focusing on threats to the collective identities of two religious sects - Shia and Sunni. Although there is a growing body of literature examining security in the Persian Gulf, little focus has been given to the theoretical and methodological aspects of the problem. In this volume, Shayan analyses the causes behind the security changes which occurred in the region since 2003 and demonstrates how regional security dynamics are interlinked to perceived sectarian threats on the Shia and Sunni religious identities. This text is essential reading for political scientists, policy makers and scholars of international relations.