GCC PERCEPTION of THREATS from IRAQ AND IRAN: EXPLAINING THE ENDURING ALLIANCE WITH THE UNITED STAES

Abstract

Threat perception in international relations plays a major role in forming international alliances. Previously Iraq and nowadays Iran, has an essential role in impacting the security concerns of the GCC. Therefore, this thesis will provide an adequate answer to the question: to what extent do Iraq and Iran threaten the stability of Gulf Cooperation Council states, and how have these states reacted in pursuit of their protection. This study aims to test the accuracy of GCC governments’ perceptions regarding Iraq and Iran via the four elements of threats state possess highlighted in Stephen Walt’s The Origins of Alliance. By refereeing to several literatures across several time frames in the 20th century, this thesis argues that the behavior of Iran and Iraq in the Gulf have been destabilizing to the security of the GCC states. Hence, Iraq and Iran represents a danger to regional stability which means that GCC states, in a simple Neorealist logic, cannot rely on them for their security, and hence requesting support from the United States (an extra-regional power).