Troubled Waters

Troubled Waters looks at four dynamics in the Persian Gulf that have contributed to making the region one of the most volatile and tension-filled spots in the world. Mehran Kamrava identifies the four dynamics as: the neglect of human dimensions of security, the inherent instability involved in reliance on the United States and the exclusion of Iraq and Iran, the international and security policies pursued by inside and outside actors, and a suite of overlapping security dilemmas. These four factors combine and interact to generate long-term volatility and ongoing tensions within the Persian Gulf.Through insights from Kamrava’s interviews with Gulf elites into policy decisions, the consequences of security dilemmas, the priorities of local players, and the neglect of identity and religion, Troubled Waters examines the root causes of conflicts and crises that are currently unfolding in the region. As Kamrava demonstrates, each state in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Qatar, has embarked on vigorous security-producing efforts as part of foreign policy, flooding the area with more munitions—thereby increasing insecurity and causing more mistrust in a part of the world that needs no more tension.

A succinct and accessible, yet nuanced and conceptually sophisticated, guide to the fundamental dynamics that shape inter-state security relations in the contemporary Gulf.... No other survey of Gulf affairs gives readers a more cogent and insightful foundation for understanding current trends in this part of the world., Troubled Waters brings together Kamrava’s expertise in international relations in the Middle East with insights gained from interviews with Gulf elites to offer a new understanding of developments in the region., Thoughtful and written with some emotion and lament from a scholar deeply connected to the region.... One of the strengths of the book is its ability to synthesize theoretically from critical security studies to traditional understandings or realist conceptions of security threats., Kamrava adds value... by presenting new material to analyse the ongoing Persian Gulf security environment. His interviews with regional policy-makers at the ministerial level as well as with Gulf academics provide invaluable regional perspectives. Anyone doing fieldwork in the Gulf can attest that this is no easy achievement.

Mehran Kamrava is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University–Qatar. He is the author of, among other books, The Impossibility of Palestine and Qatar: Small State, Big Politics.