The International Politics of the Persian Gulf

The International Politics of the Persian Gulf: A cultural genealogy

In the past few years there has emerged a new and salutary interest in the critical study of culture, an interest that has also ameliorated the study of international politics. Yet despite a recent growth of critical theoretical work in both disciplines, scholars of International Relations and Middle Eastern studies remain generally uncomfortable reverting to cultural concepts to understand the causes of international conflict, particularly with regard to the area under focus here. As a consequence, the idea that identity, norms, institutions and other cultural artefacts shape international politics in the Persian Gulf has remained marginalised.

This book attempts to synthesise the critical study of culture with empirical analysis of conflict in the Persian Gulf. It takes anarchy to be constituted in a cultural context where different constructions of identities engage, compete and sometimes clash with each other. It will become clear that both history and our method privilege interaction between the three main protagonists – Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia – but our analysis is not meant to exclude the other littoral states, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. Some might argue that the subject is too large or too small: that ‘region’ is in itself a problematic abstraction or that the international politics of the Persian Gulf cannot be satisfactorily analysed in isolation from the ‘Middle East’....

Contents

Acknowledgements / ix
Introduction / 1
1 Studying conflict in the Persian Gulf: an epistemological introduction / 4
1.1 Critique, anarchy and genealogy / 4
1.2 Culture, method and dialectical analysis / 7
1.3 Plan of the book / 9

2 The Persian Gulf between independence and revolution: ideational shifts and regional repercussions / 11
2.1 Introduction / 11
2.2 The unfinished ‘twin-pillar’ order and the simmering clash of identity politics / 12
2.3 Revolution, war and the Iranian-Iraqi legitimacy contest / 21
2.4 The changed parameters of regional relations / 49

3 Westphalia and the anarchic Gulf society: the second Persian Gulf War and its aftermath / 52
3.1 Introduction / 52
3.2 Umm Kul al-Ma’arik (mother of all battles) 1990–1991 / 54
3.3 Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose? / 68
3.4 The new old Gulf and the full cycle of regional politics / 79

4 Whither the leviathan: sources of co-operation and conflict in the ‘post-romantic’ Persian Gulf / 81
4.1 Introduction / 81
4.2 Sources of co-operation: beyond rivalry? / 82
4.3 Sources of conflict: hegemonic penetration and regional resistance / 89
4.4 Parameters of co-operation and conflict / 124

5 Towards a cultural genealogy of anarchy in the Persian Gulf: concluding reflections and ideas for future research / 128

Notes / 136
Bibliography / 161
Index / 177

Introduction

In the past few years there has emerged a new and salutary interest in the critical study of culture, an interest that has also ameliorated the study of international politics. Yet despite a recent growth of critical theoretical work in both disciplines, scholars of International Relations and Middle Eastern studies remain generally uncomfortable reverting to cultural concepts to understand the causes of international conflict, particularly with regard to the area under focus here. As a consequence, the idea that identity, norms, institutions and other cultural artefacts shape international politics in the Persian Gulf has remained marginalised.

This book attempts to synthesise the critical study of culture with empirical analysis of conflict in the Persian Gulf. It takes anarchy to be constituted in a cultural context where different constructions of identities engage, compete and sometimes clash with each other. It will become clear that both history and our method privilege interaction between the three main protagonists – Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia – but our analysis is not meant to exclude the other littoral states, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. Some might argue that the subject is too large or too small: that ‘region’ is in itself a problematic abstraction or that the international politics of the Persian Gulf cannot be satisfactorily analysed in isolation from the ‘Middle East’. I understand that there are contending definitions of what constitutes ‘region’, and to make a case for analytical autonomy of the Persian Gulf does not mean that there is no interconnectedness between this part of the world and Palestine/Israel, North Africa, Central Asia or other areas. It will become clear that during some periods and political developments I will go beyond the analytic delineation, for instance when the Second Persian Gulf War or competing ideological narratives in the Islamic worlds are discussed. I argue, however, that it would be misleading to subsume constitutive events such as the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Iran–Iraq war and even the Iraq–Kuwait crisis under a ‘Middle Eastern’ meta-narrative, just because analysis of the Persian Gulf is not departmentalised and institutionalised or because political rhetoric and media representation suggest abstraction from the particular in favour of the general. It is my proposal that for the purpose of this study it is sufficient and necessary to discuss the international politics of the Persian Gulf without explicitly positioning the analytical focus within a wider ‘Middle Eastern’ discourse. A line has to be drawn somewhere and this is where I choose to draw it, partly because of the limits of my own knowledge...

The International Politics
of the Persian Gulf
A cultural genealogy
Arshin Adib-Moghaddam

First published 2006
by Routledge
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© 2006 Arshin Adib-Moghaddam

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ISBN10: 0–415–38559–8
ISBN13: 978–0–415–38559–6