1.2.3 Feature of the region after U.S. attack of Iraq 10

1.3 Problem statement 12

1.4 Research aims and Objectives 13

1.5 Research questions 14

1.6 Significance of the study 14

1.7 Scope and limitation of the study 18

1.8 Theoretical Framework 19

1.9 Definition of Terms 24

1.9.1 Regional security 24

1.9.2 Regional Security Complex (RSC) 25

1.9.3 Balance of Power 26

1.9.4 Persian Gulf 27

1.9.5 Arab Gulf 27

1.9.6 Unofficial policy 28

1.9.7 Regime 29

1.10 Methodology 29

1.10.1 Research data collection methods 30

1.10.2 Research Designs and Methods 31

1.10.3 Sources of available Data 31

1.10.4 Techniques for collecting and analyzing data 32

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 34

2.1 Introduction 34

2.2 Regional security 36

2.3 Evolving of the Persian Gulf Security Regimes 47

2.4 Alternative Security Frameworks for the Persian Gulf 56

2.5 Iran’s Persian Gulf policy 64

2.6 Conclusion 67

3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. POLICIES TOWARDS IRAN 69

3.1 Introduction 69

3.2 Background 70

3.3 The Geography and Geopolitics of the Persian Gulf 71

3.3.1 The Persian Gulf Geographic Confines 73

3.3.2 Geopolitics of the Persian Gulf 75

3.3.3 Local Geography 76

3.3.4 Classification of the Persian Gulf states 79

3.4 Great Britain’s presence in the Persian Gulf 80

3.5 British withdrawal from Persian Gulf 81

3.5.1 The American reactions to British withdrawal 83

3.5.2 Regional states reactions regarding British withdrawal 84

3.6 American arrival in the Persian Gulf 85

3.6.1 American policy objectives in Iran 86

3.6.2 The U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf 88

3.6.3 Reasons of American indirect presence after Britain withdrawal 90

3.7 The policy of Twin pillar by Nixon administration 92

3.7.1 Areas of cooperation between Iran and US 99

3.7.2 US military assistance to Iran 101

3.8 Carter Doctrine 104

3.8.1 USCENTCOM in the Persian Gulf region 109

3.9 The policy of Dual containment (the policy of Clinton’s administration – Clinton’s Doctrine) 111

3.9.1 Basic codes of the dual containment policy 114

3.9.2 Factors of supporting Dual Containment Policy 115

3.9.3 Implementation of the Dual containment policy toward Iran 117

3.9.4 Implementation of the Dual containment policy toward Iraq 119

3.10 Establishment of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 121

3.10.1 Introduction 121

3.10.2 Previous Efforts for cooperation and alliance 121

3.10.3 Declared and undeclared objectives of the GCC 123

3.10.4 The main concerns of GCC states regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran 125

3.10.5 Interaction between the GCC states and the U.S. 127

3.10.7 Military abilities of the GCC state 130

3.10.8 A turning point at Doha summit 133

3.11 Conclusion 135

4 EVALUATION OF THE U.S. POLICIES IN PERSIAN GULF 136

4.1 Introduction 136

4.2 Evaluation of the “Twin Pillars Policy” 137

4.3 Evaluation of the “Carter Doctrine” 139

4.4 Evaluation of the Regan Doctrine 143

4.5 Evaluation of the “George Herbert Walker Bush” Policy 146

4.6 Evaluation of the “Dual Containment Policy” 149

4.6.1Evaluating the methods of containment 158

4.7 Evaluation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) policy 159

4.8 evaluation of George W. Bush Policy 165

4.9 Islamic Republic of Iran’s Policies towards the United States 174

4.9.1 The Khatami phenomenon and Iran’s foreign policy 177

4.10 Conclusion 180

5 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 182

5.1 Introduction 182

5.2 Securing the Persian Gulf as a neo-conservative thought 183

5.3 Schools of Thought about Iran 184

5.4 The Persian Gulf Remains as the World’s Energy Supply 185

5.5 Dilemmas in U.S. Persian Gulf Policies 187

5.6 Regional Security Structures as Possible Options 192

5.6.1 Potential Models (samples) for the Persian Gulf 195

5.6.2 Parameters of Formulating a New Security Structure for the Region 197

5.6.3 Essential pre-structure for Security building in the Persian Gulf region 198

5.7 Interaction of the GCC Regarding Iran 199

5.7.1 GCC and the Iran-Iraq War 203

5.7.2 The difficulties facing GCC states 204

5.7.3 The American Congress and weapons sales to the GCC 205

5.8 Sources of Conflict in the Persian Gulf Region: Penetration and Resistance 207

5.9 Oil is the main interest but not the unique interest 208

5.10 Major Problem Regarding the U.S. in the Persian Gulf 209

5.11 Conclusion 214

6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS 215

6.1 Introduction 215

6.2 Summary 215

6.3 Conclusion 219

6.3.1 GCC needs a new security arrangement 220

6.3.2 Mutual understanding of the U.S. and Iran 223

6.3.3 Disengaging from the region 225

6.3.4 The New Regional Security Arrangement 227

6.4 Implications (theory and practice) 232

6.5 Recommendation for future research 234

REFERENCES 236

BIODATA OF STUDENT 254

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 255

 

 

 

 

 

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1: World Conventional Oil Production 6

2: the United States oil imports 76

3: Past Challenges to U.S. Interests in the Gulf 89

4:U.S. MilitaryAssistance to Iran, 1965-1973 101

5: GNP & military expenditures of Iran (1968-1980) 102

6: NATO Contribution of Air forces in Desert Storm 213

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1: The Middle East & Persian Gulf region 2

5

3: Regional Security Complex Theory 23

4: Allied Participation in Coalition Operations 213

5: Sorties Flown in Operation Allied Force and Operation Deliberate Force 214

 

 

 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASEAN: the Association of Southeast Asian Nation

ARF: ASEAN Regional Forum

BMDS: Ballistic Missile Defense System

CENTO: Central Treaty Organization

DOD: Department of Defense (America)

EIA: Energy Information Administration

G6:Group six including five permanent members of the United Nation’s Security Council (America, Russia China, Britain, France) plus Germany

GCC:Gulf Cooperation Council

GOIC: Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy

GRSF: [Persian] Gulf Regional Security Forum

I.R.IRAN: the Islamic Republic of Iran

IAEA: the International Atomic Energy Agency

ILSA: the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996

INP:Iran’s Nuclear Program

ICO: Islamic Conference Organization

ISA: Iran Sanctions Act

NAM: Non Aligned Movement

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NPT: treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

NW: Nuclear Weapon

OPEC: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

OSCE: the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

PA: Palestinian Authority

PLO: Palestinian Liberation Organization

RDJTF: Rapid Deployment Joint Task Forces.

RSCT:Regional Security Complex Theory

UAE: United Arab Emirates

UN: the United Nations

UNSC: the United Nations Security Council

UK: United Kingdom

USA: the United States of America

USCENTCOM: the U.S. Central Command

USSR: the Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics

WMD:Weapons of Mass Destruction