Gulf Security and the U.S. Military

The U.S. military maintains a significant presence across the Arabian Peninsula but it must now confront a new and emerging dynamic as most Gulf Cooperation Council countries have begun to diversify their political, economic, and security partnerships with countries other than the United States—with many turning to ascending powers such as China, Russia, and India. For Gulf Arab monarchies, the choice of security partner is made more complicated by increased domestic and regional instability stemming in part from Iraq, Syria, and a menacing Iran: factors that threaten to alter totally the Middle East security dynamic.Understanding the dynamics of base politicization in a Gulf host nation—or any other—is therefore vitally important for the U.S. today. Gulf National Security and the U.S. Military examines both Gulf Arab national security and U.S. military basing relations with Gulf Arab monarchy hosts from the Second World War to the present day. Three in-depth country cases—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman—help explain the important questions posed by the author regarding when and why a host nation either terminated a U.S. military basing presence or granted U.S. military basing access.The analysis of the cases offers a fresh perspective on how the United States has adapted to sometimes rapidly shifting Middle East security dynamics and factors that influence a host nation's preference for eviction or renegotiation, based on its perception of internal versus external threats.

"This powerful and comprehensive look at security in the Arabian Gulf and the US role in creating and sustaining it should be mandatory reading for policy makers. Geoffrey Gresh has written an up-to-the-minute account of how our key friends in the region view their security not only in the Gulf, but the world. Superb!", "This book is not just a comprehensive history of the military-strategic relationship between the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) but also a complex analysis of internal and external factors (such as regime survival and state-society relations) that influence the conduct of the GCC towards the American military presence in the Gulf. A welcome addition to security studies broadly defined and which takes the local level seriously.", "Geoffrey Gresh's book, Gulf Security and the U.S. Military, comes at a crucial time when the Middle East is roiling. U.S. bases have served the interests of those in and out of the Gulf. They are affected by domestic politics as much as they are affected by regional politics. Going back to the establishment of U.S. bases in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman and bringing the reader up to date Gresh gives the reader a vital perspective through which to analyze the U.S. role in the Gulf in these turbulent times. This is essential reading for those interested in US policy in the Gulf, regional and energy politics.", "Overall, the analysis provided in the book is extremely valuable to US policy makers and officers in charge of American bases in those regions, as they will find important insights and inspirations from Gresh's book. The lessons from this book can also be of great interest to policy advisors concerned with how the United States today can help countries in the Gulf regions to enhance their national security facing the severe threats from the rise of Islamic State (ISIS) and to reduce the risk of increasing internal security threats for those countries.", "In Gulf Security and the US Military, Geoffrey F. Gresh makes an important contribution to studies of American overseas military basing policy and US security assistance; he also adds to an increasingly rich literature on the strategic significance of the Persian Gulf to America's global security . . . Geoffrey Gresh's new book is an excellent start to what is certain to be an important and long-running national security debate."

Geoffrey F. Gresh is an Associate Professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.