Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars

The significance of the Persian Gulf to international peace and security and to the global energy market cannot be overstated. Events such as the attacks of September 11 and the rise in energy demand and prices have only highlighted the importance of stability in the Gulf to the health of the global economy. This book demonstrates that the nature of military and political threats in the Gulf states (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Yemen, and the UAE) has shifted during the past three years. Although the threat from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which produced three recent, major conventional wars - Iran-Iraq (1980-88), Persian Gulf (1990), and Iraq (2003) - has largely disappeared, that threat has been replaced by concerns over the asymmetric warfare conducted by terrorist organizations and over the proliferation of WMDs by both states and terrorists. These developments are affecting the defense planning and strategic posture of each country. Cordesman analyzes developments in the force structures of the Gulf states and their ability to deal with this shift in the nature of threat.