The next President and Congress will have to deal with all of the security issues that affect the Gulf, not just the Iraq War and Iranian proliferation. The attached briefing provides a summary overview of the issues that the US and its allies need to address, with supporting graphics and maps. Both Gulf and US policymakers need to reassess their priorities in dealing with the threats to the Gulf.
Regardless of the outcome of the war in Iraq, the US, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, and other US allies with interests in the Gulf will need to adapt their forces to deal with the real-world threats in the region, and to make more effective efforts at cooperation, creating forces that are focused on real-world needs for deterrence and defense, and that deal with the full range of threats and not the most obvious military and security issues.
The Evolving Range of Threats
The Gulf does not face abstract threats or abstract potential enemies. At this point in time, it faces seven very real security challenges:
■ Conventional Military Threats and the Lack of Unity and Mission Focus in the GCC
■ Asymmetric warfare and ―Wars of Intimidation
■ Iranian Missiles and Proliferation
■ Iraqi Instability
■ Energy and Critical Infrastructure
■ Terrorism
o Region-wide impact of Neo-Salafi Islamist extremism. Franchising of Al Qa’ida, Sunni vs. Shi’ite tension, and its impact inside and outside the region
o War in Afghanistan, potential destabilization of a nuclear Pakistan, and impact on proliferation and Islamist extremism in the Middle East
■ Demographics, Foreign Labor, and Social Change
Security Challenges and Threats in the Gulf
Bookmarks