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Britain’s Post-Colonial Foreign Policy Towards the Persian Gulf Security (1971-1991): An Alternative Approach

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 37 - 64, 28.12.2018
https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.470598

Abstract



By the British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf in
1971, a new era started in the region with the new political order and new security
map. Iran and the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia emerged as the guardians of the
status quo to be filling the power vacuum left by the British in behalf of the
West. Iran was a strategic Western ally until the fall of the Shah resulted by
the Iranian revolution in 1979. After 1979, Iran, no longer a Western military
ally, has been determined as the major internal threat for the regional
security and stability following the major external threat of the Soviet
expansion in the British foreign policy. The British foreign policy towards the
region adopted a sectarianist approach that went along with the securitization
of the Gulf within the determinants of the Anglo-American alliance towards the
regional security. The shift in the British foreign policy towards the regional
security in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution is analysed at this work
based on the British foreign policy documents. This work argues that the
sectarianist discourse adopted by the post-colonial British foreign policy was
functioned as an effective tool of the securitization of the Gulf which was
deepened during the regional conflicts such as the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and
the Gulf War (1990-91).

References

  • Bismarck, Helene Von, “The Kuwait Crisis of 1961 and Its Consequences for Great Britain’s Persian Gulf Policy”, British Scholar Vol. II, Issue 1, 75-96, September 2009.
  • Esposito, John L., The Iranian Revolution: A Ten Year Perspective, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990.
  • Esposito, John L. “The Global Impact of the Iranian Revolution”, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution, Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990.
  • Gause III. Gregory F., The International Relations of the Persian Gulf, Cambridge, 2009
  • Gause III, Gregory F., Oil Monarchies, Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.
  • Hollis, Rosemary Britain and the Middle in the 9/11 Era, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
  • Hollis, Rosemary. “Britain's Strategic Approach to the Gulf" in International Interests in the Gulf Region, ECSSR, 2004
  • Hurd, Douglas, Memoirs, Abacus, 2003.
  • Kamrava, Mehran, Iran’s Intellectual Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  • Long, David, E., “The Impact of the Iranian Revolution of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States”, in John L. Esposito, ed. The Iranian Revolution Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990
  • Macris, Jeffrey R. The Politics and Security of the Gulf, Anglo-American Hegemony and Shaping of A Region. Routledge, 2010.
  • Nonneman, Gerd. ‘Constants and Variations in Gulf-British Relations’, in Iran, Iraq an Arab Gulf States, ed. Joseph Kechichian, Palgrave, 2011. p.325-330
  • Oktav, Ozden Zeynep, “The Gulf States and Iran: A Turkish Perspective.” Midlle East Policy, Vol. XVIII, No 2 Summer 2011
  • Parsons, Anthony “The Middle East”, in Peter Byrd (ed.) British Foreign Policy under Thatcher Philip Allan Publishers Limited, 1988.
  • Peterson, Tore, “Richard Nixon, Great Britain and the Anglo-American Strategy of Turning the Persian Gulf into an Allied Lake”, in Imperial Crossroads. The Great Powers and the Persian Gulf. Eds. Jeffrey R. Macris and Saul Kelly, Naval Institute Press, 2012.
  • Peterson Tore, Anglo-American Policy towards the Persian Gulf 1978-1985, Sussex Academic Press, 2015.
  • Rajaee, Farhang, “Iranian Ideology and Worldview: The Cultural Export of Revolution”, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution, Its Global Impact, Miami: University of Florida, 1990.
  • Smith, Simon C. “America in Britain's place?’: Anglo-American relations and the Middle East in the aftermath of the Suez crisis’. Journal of Transatlantic Studies (Routledge). Sep 2012, Vol. 10 Issue 3, p.260-261.
  • Zahlan, Rosemarie Said, The Making of the Modern Gulf States

İngiltere’nin Körfeze Yönelik Post- Kolonyal Dış Politikası (1971-1991): Alternatif Bir Yaklaşım

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 37 - 64, 28.12.2018
https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.470598

Abstract

İngilterenin 1971de Basra Körfezinden çekilmesi ile bölgede yeni siyasi dönem başlamıştır. İran ve Suudi Arabistan bölgede İngilterenin bıraktığı güç boşluğunu doldurma
yolunda b
ölgesel statükonun korunma görevini üstlenmişlerdir. İran, Şah’ın devrilmesi ile
sonu
çlanan 1979 Iran Devrimine kadar bölgede stratejik batı müttefiki olarak
kalm
ıştır. 1979dan itibaren batının bölgedeki askeri müttefikliği sona eren İran, İngiliz dış politikasında bölgesel güvenlik ve istikrarın önündeki önde gelen iç tehdit olarak
tan
ımlanmıştır. Böylece, İngilterenin bölgeye yönelik dış politikasında Anglo-Amerikan ittifakı çerçevesinde Körfezin güvenlikleştirilmesi paralelinde mezhep ayrımcılığı’ yaklaşımı benimsenmiştir. Bu çalışmada, İran devrimi akabinde İngilterenin Körfeze yönelik dış politikasında gözlemlenen
politika de
ğişimi İngiliz dış politika kaynaklarına dayalı olarak incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın temel argümanı İngilterenin bölgeye yönelik post-kolonyal dış politikasında İran Devrimi
sonras
ında benimsenen mezhep ayrımcılığına dayalı söylemin, 1971-1991 periyodunda bölgenin güvenlikleştirilmesinde etkin bir araç olarak işlev görmüş olduğudur. Bu dönemde Basra Körfezinin güvenlikleştirilmesi İran-Irak Savaşı (1980-1988) ve
K
örfez Savaşları (1990-91) sonucunda önemli bir derinlik kazanmıştır.

References

  • Bismarck, Helene Von, “The Kuwait Crisis of 1961 and Its Consequences for Great Britain’s Persian Gulf Policy”, British Scholar Vol. II, Issue 1, 75-96, September 2009.
  • Esposito, John L., The Iranian Revolution: A Ten Year Perspective, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990.
  • Esposito, John L. “The Global Impact of the Iranian Revolution”, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution, Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990.
  • Gause III. Gregory F., The International Relations of the Persian Gulf, Cambridge, 2009
  • Gause III, Gregory F., Oil Monarchies, Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.
  • Hollis, Rosemary Britain and the Middle in the 9/11 Era, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
  • Hollis, Rosemary. “Britain's Strategic Approach to the Gulf" in International Interests in the Gulf Region, ECSSR, 2004
  • Hurd, Douglas, Memoirs, Abacus, 2003.
  • Kamrava, Mehran, Iran’s Intellectual Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  • Long, David, E., “The Impact of the Iranian Revolution of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States”, in John L. Esposito, ed. The Iranian Revolution Its Global Impact, Miami: Florida University, 1990
  • Macris, Jeffrey R. The Politics and Security of the Gulf, Anglo-American Hegemony and Shaping of A Region. Routledge, 2010.
  • Nonneman, Gerd. ‘Constants and Variations in Gulf-British Relations’, in Iran, Iraq an Arab Gulf States, ed. Joseph Kechichian, Palgrave, 2011. p.325-330
  • Oktav, Ozden Zeynep, “The Gulf States and Iran: A Turkish Perspective.” Midlle East Policy, Vol. XVIII, No 2 Summer 2011
  • Parsons, Anthony “The Middle East”, in Peter Byrd (ed.) British Foreign Policy under Thatcher Philip Allan Publishers Limited, 1988.
  • Peterson, Tore, “Richard Nixon, Great Britain and the Anglo-American Strategy of Turning the Persian Gulf into an Allied Lake”, in Imperial Crossroads. The Great Powers and the Persian Gulf. Eds. Jeffrey R. Macris and Saul Kelly, Naval Institute Press, 2012.
  • Peterson Tore, Anglo-American Policy towards the Persian Gulf 1978-1985, Sussex Academic Press, 2015.
  • Rajaee, Farhang, “Iranian Ideology and Worldview: The Cultural Export of Revolution”, in John L. Esposito (ed.) The Iranian Revolution, Its Global Impact, Miami: University of Florida, 1990.
  • Smith, Simon C. “America in Britain's place?’: Anglo-American relations and the Middle East in the aftermath of the Suez crisis’. Journal of Transatlantic Studies (Routledge). Sep 2012, Vol. 10 Issue 3, p.260-261.
  • Zahlan, Rosemarie Said, The Making of the Modern Gulf States
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Esra Cavusoglu

Publication Date December 28, 2018
Acceptance Date November 16, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2018 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Cavusoglu, E. (2018). Britain’s Post-Colonial Foreign Policy Towards the Persian Gulf Security (1971-1991): An Alternative Approach. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 5(2), 37-64. https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.470598

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