Persian Gulf Security

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course draws on the concept of the regional security complex to explore the challenge of security in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. IR scholar Barry Buzan defined this type of complex as “a group of states whose primary security concerns link together sufficiently closely that their national securities cannot realistically be considered apart from one another.” As such, this course will look not at any one particular Gulf state, but at how the eight Gulf states have interacted over time to advance their individual interests. In the late twentieth century, the region was characterized by the triangular relationship between Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. In more recent years, with Iraq in disarray, the Saudi-Iran rivalry has dominated the region, although smaller Gulf powers, such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have increasingly asserted themselves in the regional system. Moreover, the Gulf has almost always seen substantial external intervention. Prior to 1971, Britain was the external hegemon; in more recent decades, that role has been played by the United States. Various Gulf states have also established important relationships with other external powers in recent years, particularly China and Israel. Meanwhile, the states of the Gulf region face new threats, stemming from climate change and the emergence of new technologies like drones. This course will first look at regional security in the Gulf over the last 50 years, before examining the most salient issues that dominate the topic today.