Gulf security : dynamics, perception and policies 1968-2003 : a comparative study of the GCC states

The objective of this study is to identify and analyse the dynamics, perceptions and policies that have defined Gulf security as seen from the six Arab Gulf states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - on both an individual country and a collective level from the period of the announcement of the withdrawal of Great Britain from its territories East of Suez in 1968 to the immediate aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In order to accomplish this task, the work deals with Gulf security on two different levels. The first is examining the factors affecting both security dynamics in general and perceptions in particular. This comprises internal, regional and international factors, which will be studied to discover how they contributed to the foreign policy of the concerned state. The second level is the perceptions and policies on Gulf security within the GCC states at (a) the non-governmental level; (b) the official national level; and (c) the official collective level of the Gulf Cooperation Council. As this study highlights, the issue of Gulf security is a highly complex phenomenon involving a multiplicity of domestic, regional and international variables that have interacted at various levels to produce a seemingly endless cycle of instability and insecurity. Given that regime security remains the core and primary objective of the ruling regimes of the GCC states, the domestic environment tends to be the key determinant influencing security perceptions and, as such, respective policy responses. Yet, the intertwining of domestic roots of insecurity with wider Middle Eastern and global dynamics has produced a Gulf security problematic that has failed to resolve itself. In this context, the non-governmental sector has played a relatively benign role in voicing its concerns. Instead, it is the national level where states remain locked into an intense competition in the pursuit of their own interests that has largely defined the Gulf security picture. As a result, security perceptions and policies at the collective level have been limited and hard to achieve. Moreover given that existing perceptions are deeply rooted and are only difficult to change, regional powers in the Gulf including Iran, Iraq and Yemen have been able to overcome the fundamental differences between them. Those perceptions are further enhanced and hardened by the policies of external powers with vital interests in Gulf affairs and has resulted in a Gulf security dilemma that is unlikely to be overcome in coming years.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo