Gulf States Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The gulf states are the countries in the Middle East that border the Persian or Arabian Gulf: Iran, Oman (the small exclave of Musandam), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq (the Tigris-Euphrates river delta: the Shatt-el-Arab). The name of the gulf is disputed because of its geopolitical connotation. The United Nations (UN) officially recognizes the “Persian Gulf ” as the standard geographical designation, and history names the gulf the “Pars Sea” or “Persian Gulf ” because of the influence of the Persian Empire. Since the 1960s and the rise of nationalist panArabist movements in the region, however, Arab states have adopted the term “Arabian Gulf.” This name is controversial because of its political implications and also because the term “Arabian Gulf ” is an ancient name for the Red Sea.

Cleavages

The gulf naming dispute is the tip of an iceberg of linguistic, religious, historical, political, tribal, and economic cleavages between and across the gulf states. Iran’s official language is Farsi, and the majority of the population is Shiite Muslim, while the official language of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait is Arabic, and the majority of their population is Sunni Muslim. Arabic-speaking Iraq has a Shiite majority but with a big minority of Sunni Muslims, while Bahrain has an important Shiite minority.

Various tribal loyalties throughout the region are frequently divisive and are exacerbated by religious differences. Tribal lineage, family, and clan connections affect the political system of the gulf states to different degrees: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain are monarchies based on tribal leadership with no significant level of democratic participation, while Iran and Iraq are republics. Historically, the development of the states as independent entities and their administration system has also been influenced (except for the Iranian case) by the British colonial system.

Islam plays an important role in the political organization and the public life of the gulf states societies. Sharia law is applied to different degrees in all the states, and societies are generally conservative. Examples of religious conservatism are the 1979-instituted Shiite revolutionary government in Iran and the Wahabi (an Islamic sect) regime in Saudi Arabia. A counterexample was Iraq under the Baath party (Saddam Hussein’s) regime: In the name of Arab nationalism, religious differences were downplayed, and Iraqi society was considered comparatively more liberal. The effect of wealth has also created contrasting trends and social changes in most of the gulf states.

Also divisive is the foreign policy outlook of the gulf states: A common stance against the recognition of Israel is counterweighted by differences in relations with the United States and the West, with some accepting the friendship and others, like post-1979 Iran, having a confrontational attitude.

From an economic perspective, the gulf has been an important waterway since ancient times. Merchant trade with India, China, and Southwest Asia was the major economic activity of the region, and after the discoveries of massive onshore and offshore oil deposits in the twentieth century, it has acquired strategic value in terms of world oil production and transportation. Collectively the gulf states possess 57 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 45 percent of the natural gas reserves. In particular Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi), Qatar, and Kuwait have profited from this wealth of natural resources, and they are engaged in modernizing their economies and societies. Iran and Iraq, because of political strife, have lagged behind in this oil-driven economic development, while Bahrain and Oman do not possess enough oil and gas deposits to transform their economies. This is also why Bahrain and Oman are the only two gulf states that are not members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Power Competition And Tensions

The unequal distribution of natural resources and wealth and the competition for regional power, fueled by the growing importance of oil in the world economy, have heightened cleavages and caused a number of conflicts in the region. In addition, the political and economic interests of major world powers and their involvement in the affairs of the gulf states have contributed to make the region a security powder keg.

The Iran-Iraq War (1980–1990) was initiated by Iraq’s invasion of western Iran. Saddam Hussein sought to seize control of the rich oil-producing Iranian region of Khuzestan, to reassert Iraqi sovereignty on both banks of the Shatt-el-Arab, and to preempt attempts by the Iranian Islamic revolutionary government to incite rebellion among the Iraqi Shiite majority. Iraq was financially supported by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arab states and tacitly backed by the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the war resulted in a stalemate, and in 1988, beleaguered by economic problems, Iran accepted a UN-brokered ceasefire. In the late summer of 1990, the two countries reestablished diplomatic relations and agreed on the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from occupied Iranian territory, division of sovereignty over the Shatt al-Arab waterway, and a prisoner-of-war exchange.

On August, 2 1990, Iraq annexed Kuwait, accusing Kuwait of damaging Iraq’s economy by not respecting the production quotas set by OPEC and by illegally pumping oil from the Iraqi Rumaila oil field. This action prompted the so-called first Persian Gulf War (January-February 1991): the UN-authorized armed intervention of a coalition of 32 countries commanded by the United States (Operation Desert Storm) to liberate Kuwait. Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait, but the UN continued sanctions against Iraq, including the oil-for-food program, the no-fly zones interdiction of aerial sovereignty on northern and southern Iraq, and UN weapons inspections. These sanctions were meant to protect the Kurd and Shiite populations from Saddam Hussein’s repressive attacks (which in the 1980s included the use of chemical weapons) and monitor the regime’s development of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq’s defiance of the sanctions led to a number of bombing campaigns.

The Second Gulf War (or Iraq War) refers to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by the U.S.–British led “coalition of the willing” motivated by the failure of the Iraqi government to comply with the UN weapons inspection regime. In the context of the U.S. “war on terrorism,” which followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil, Iraq was also accused of supporting al-Qaida and terrorism. The stated aim was to effect a regime change, the fall of Saddam Hussein, and the rise of democracy, but some critics suggested that Iraq’s vast oil fields were the main attraction of U.S. and international interest. Violence between Sunnis and Shiites threatened to tip the country into civil war, but a surge in the number of American troops and more involvement by the Iraqi government and military reduced violence significantly and increased stability. Much of this violence was believed to have been fomented by groups and governments outside of Iraq. In particular, Iran has been accused of financially and militarily supporting the Shiite majority in order to advance its regional power and to heighten the confrontation with the West regarding the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Regional Cooperation

Despite the troubles in the region, some cooperation does exist between gulf states. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was created in 1981, and its members include Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. With the aim of establishing a common currency by 2010, the GCC has successfully instituted a common market and harmonized regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration. The attraction of national sovereignty to young independent states (most of the states gained their independence in the 1960s and 1970s) as well as the cleavages and the divergent interests discussed above are major obstacles to the development of more coherent political cooperation.

Bibliography:

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