The objective of this study is to identify and analyse the dynamics, perceptions and policies that have defined Gulf security as seen from the six Arab Gulf states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - on both an individual country and a collective level from the period of the announcement of the withdrawal of Great Britain from its territories East of Suez in 1968 to the immediate aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In order to accomplish this task, the work deals with Gulf security on two different levels. The first is examining the factors affecting both security dynamics in general and perceptions in particular. This comprises internal, regional and international factors, which will be studied to discover how they contributed to the foreign policy of the concerned state. The second level is the perceptions and policies on Gulf security within the GCC states at (a) the non-governmental level; (b) the official national level; and (c) the official collective level of the Gulf Cooperation Council. As this study highlights, the issue of Gulf security is a highly complex phenomenon involving a multiplicity of domestic, regional and international variables that have interacted at various levels to produce a seemingly endless cycle of instability and insecurity. Given that regime security remains the core and primary objective of the ruling regimes of the GCC states, the domestic environment tends to be the key determinant influencing security perceptions and, as such, respective policy responses. Yet, the intertwining of domestic roots of insecurity with wider Middle Eastern and global dynamics has produced a Gulf security problematic that has failed to resolve itself. In this context, the non-governmental sector has played a relatively benign role in voicing its concerns. Instead, it is the national level where states remain locked into an intense competition in the pursuit of their own interests that has largely defined the Gulf security picture. As a result, security perceptions and policies at the collective level have been limited and hard to achieve. Moreover given that existing perceptions are deeply rooted and are only difficult to change, regional powers in the Gulf including Iran, Iraq and Yemen have been able to overcome the fundamental differences between them. Those perceptions are further enhanced and hardened by the policies of external powers with vital interests in Gulf affairs and has resulted in a Gulf security dilemma that is unlikely to be overcome in coming years.

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This study offers the first detailed analysis on the social, economic, and political elite driven reforms undertaken in the Kingdom of Bahrain by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa in the significant timeframe of 1999-2005. This era has witnessed the most fundamental changes in the country since the historic situation of 1973-75. Therefore, in accordance with the thesis' objectives, an original contribution is offered firstly through the detailed and micro level examination and analysis of the character of the reforms. Such analysis is largely absent from any scholarship on this topic. Secondly, it provides a comprehensive identification of the obstacles and challenges facing the implementation of future reforms and changes. The thesis focuses on a variety of differential factors within broad social, economic, political, and human rights spectrums. It provides an identification of policy relevant initiatives which would likely counter the obstacles to future reform. Here it is suffice to say that current policy relevant scholarship and indeed government practice may indicate that strategic vision exists but fails to appreciate that on a broad level there is an acute lack of detailed policy planning. This study shows how the lack of bureaucratic project management and analysis, at a bureaucratic agency level, on new initiatives is the overarching factor, which inhibits the successful advancement of reform for the future. Furthermore, attention is given to particular localised initiatives that also need to be undertaken. Finally, and most importantly, this thesis offers a new interpretation through a pragmatic analysis of this era of reform. Indeed, it offers a comprehensive understanding and meaning to the reforms and changes in Bahrain for scholarship in this field. Moreover, it builds on the existing body of scholarship on GCC states politics in particular and the Arab region in general, by showing the uniqueness of Bahrain and ultimately the need for a country specific solution to its existing barriers to future success.

This thesis is about British disengagement from the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. Britain never had colonies in the region, but had held significant imperial sway over nine Protected States since the nineteenth century. The informal empire remained intact until the Labour government (1964-70) announced its intention to leave, in consequence of which Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates became independent in 1971. This thesis attempts three things. First, it draws on extensive archival research to provide the fullest possible account of British withdrawal: why it had to leave, how it did and what followed. The Gulf rulers wanted to maintain British protection for their own security, but Britain decided nonetheless on military retreat, because it needed to placate the domestic constituency in order to push forward the reversal of social reforms due to economic retrenchment. The Gulf rulers responded quickly, yet unsuccessfully, in deciding how many states would be formed as they achieve independence. It was only after the Gulf rulers and the British diplomats on the ground made late and mutually acceptable compromises about coming together that the nine Protected States became three new independent sovereign states. In the end, Britain was able to leave the Gulf peacefully, and the new states retained close relations with Britain. Second, the study of an informal empire illuminates the enduring collaborative relationship between Britain and the Gulf rulers, characterised by the nominal sovereignty given to the Protected States. This relationship not only helped Britain maintain its imperial sway at little cost, but also made possible a peaceful withdrawal and the orderly emergence of the new states. Third, this informal empire characterised by collaboration and nominal sovereignty laid the structural foundations for the later international society in the region – a point more generally telling for the study of international relations.