The International Relations of the Persian Gulf

This book offers a comprehensive, narrative account of the international politics in the Persian Gulf across nearly four decades.

F. Gregory Gause, III (Author)

9780521137300, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 November 2009

272 pages, 4 maps 3 tables
22.4 x 15 x 1.3 cm, 0.44 kg

'In a whole series of stellar recent book[s] on the international relations of the Persian Gulf, Gregory Gause's ranks among the best. Gause has written a well-researched, thorough and balanced account of the evolution of the regional security system in the Persian Gulf since the early 1970s. … undoubtedly, an essential read for anyone interested in the politics of a region that has long been a source of competition and tension among regional and global actors and, ironically, object of scholarly neglect. … This is clearly a work of solid scholarship by someone with a highly perceptive knowledge of the region. … I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in an in-depth understanding of the international relations of the Persian Gulf.' International Affairs

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.

1. The Persian Gulf as a security region
2. The emergence of the Gulf regional system, 1971–8
3. The Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war
4. The Gulf war and the 1990s
5. 9/11, the Iraq war and the future of the Persian Gulf
6. The Iraq war: American decision-making
7. Conclusions: war and alliance in the Persian Gulf.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC]