Contemporary Gulf Studies: Foreign Policy, Security, and the New Geopolitics of the Gulf

Bakir, Ali; Coates Ulrichsen, Kristian; Cafiero, Giorgio

This volume offers the first comprehensive assessment of how the Iran–Israel rivalry is reshaping Gulf security and transforming the foreign policies, strategic behavior, and defense choices of the GCC states. Spanning the post–October 2023 conflagration, the June 2025 Twelve-Day War, and its devastating 2026 sequel, the sixteen chapters examine the securitization of the rivalry, country-level foreign policy adaptation across all six GCC members, the fate of connectivity corridors such as IMEC and the Belt and Road, and recalibrated relationships with Türkiye, Pakistan, India, and beyond.

The book explains how Gulf states have simultaneously pursued de-escalation with Iran, selective engagement with Israel, strategic autonomy, and the safeguarding of their ambitious economic visions against the threat of wider war. Drawing on Regional Security Complex Theory alongside hedging, sheltering, small-states, and strategic foresight approaches, the volume brings together early-career researchers, senior academics, regional experts, and practitioners from institutions across the Gulf, the wider Middle East, Europe, South Asia, and the United States.

The result is a uniquely interdisciplinary account that transcends the existing literature and serves as essential reading for academics, researchers, postgraduate students, policymakers, diplomats, and practitioners working on Middle East politics, international relations, security studies, and Gulf affairs.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2026-12-22

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9789819217014

DOI:

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: