Re-examining the Foundations of US-Gulf Relations

TY - JOUR

T1 - Re-examining the Foundations of US-Gulf Relations

AU - Roberts, David

PY - 2024/11/1

Y1 - 2024/11/1

N2 - The prevailing narrative of US-Gulf relations is implicitly framed by a narrow temporal window starting with the dramatic military operations to protect the monarchies and liberate Kuwait from Iraq's invasion in 1990-1. Subsequent decades then saw a huge US military presence throughout the region. Drawing on declassified documents and emerging local histories reveals that this perspective of the US’ outsized, protective role belies a historical complexity in relations that, in contrast, is characterized by widespread tension and antipathy. Consequently, contemporary difficulties in US-Gulf relations can be understood less as a dramatic worsening of relations, and more as a return to the historical norm of strained interactions.

AB - The prevailing narrative of US-Gulf relations is implicitly framed by a narrow temporal window starting with the dramatic military operations to protect the monarchies and liberate Kuwait from Iraq's invasion in 1990-1. Subsequent decades then saw a huge US military presence throughout the region. Drawing on declassified documents and emerging local histories reveals that this perspective of the US’ outsized, protective role belies a historical complexity in relations that, in contrast, is characterized by widespread tension and antipathy. Consequently, contemporary difficulties in US-Gulf relations can be understood less as a dramatic worsening of relations, and more as a return to the historical norm of strained interactions.

KW - US-Gulf

KW - Gulf foreign policy

KW - US foreign policy

M3 - Article

SN - 1743-7881

JO - MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

JF - MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

ER -