The Gulf Monarchies After the Arab Spring - (Identities and Geopolitics in the Middle East) by Cinzia Bianco (Paperback)

About the Book

This book applies an original theoretical framework to unpack the threat perceptions and strategic calculus driving the behaviour of the Gulf monarchies, which emerged after the Arab Spring as major geopolitical players in the Middle East and North Africa region and as middle powers destined to play an oversized role in the new multipolar world.

Book Synopsis

This book applies an original theoretical framework to unpack the threat perceptions and strategic calculus driving the behaviour of the Gulf monarchies, which emerged after the Arab Spring as major geopolitical players in the Middle East and North Africa region and as middle powers destined to play an oversized role in the new multipolar world.

From the Back Cover

'Bianco has stepped into the breach with a magisterial, deeply researched work.'
--David Des Roches, Middle East Journal

'In a work of solid scholarship, Bianco offers a thoroughly researched examination of Persian Gulf monarchies that is empirically rich and is grounded in a robust theoretical framework ... this is essential reading.'
--Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University in Qatar

This book goes beyond headline-grabbing themes to explore the core elements in the formation of threat perceptions and strategic calculus driving the behaviour of each of the six Gulf monarchies, which emerged after the Arab Spring as major geopolitical players in the Middle East and North Africa region and as middle powers destined to play an oversized role in the new multipolar world.

Ten years after the Arab Spring, and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine solidified multipolarity in the MENA region, the centre of gravity for Arab geopolitics shifted decidedly towards the monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The unprecedented assertiveness shown after 2011 by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, together with the active neutrality embraced by Kuwait and Oman, re-defined regional equilibria. Small Bahrain acted as a microcosm and political laboratory for all regional fault lines.

The Gulf monarchies after the Arab Spring breaks conceptual new ground and offers an original perspective on the dimensions of security. It analyses the lessons learned in this stormy decade - between popular upheavals, civil wars, oil price crashes, economic instability and even a global pandemic - and their implications. The author draws on over ten years of research in the Gulf monarchies, bridging the gap between academia, policy work and analysis. Grounded in historical background and academic literature, the volume provides reading relevant to the past, present and future of policy-making in the Gulf monarchies - major actors in regional geopolitics as well as the new multipolar world order.

Review Quotes

'Provides new insights on this ten-year period that deeply changed the internal dynamics of Arab politics.'
-Bustan: The Middle East Book Review (Vol. 15, No. 2, 2024)

'Those of us who work in the field are often at a loss to keep up with events, never mind analyze them in a comprehensive, scholarly manner. Fortunately, Cinzia Bianco has stepped into the breach with a magisterial, deeply researched work that delves into the regional events while at the same time surveying the scholarly literature of the region and of conflict in general.'
-David Des Roches, Middle East Journal

'In a work of solid scholarship, Bianco offers a thoroughly researched examination of Persian Gulf monarchies that is empirically rich and is grounded in a robust theoretical framework. For anyone interested in better understanding contemporary international politics in the Persian Gulf, and especially the evolving threat perceptions of the region's monarchies, this is essential reading.'
-Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University in Qatar

'The Gulf monarchies after the Arab Spring makes an essential and novel contribution to the growing literature on the international relations of the Gulf. Drawing on deep experience and research, Bianco shows that the GCC states shape their foreign policies through the lens of very distinct threat perceptions rooted in their domestic political conditions, geographic position, broader political ambitions, and ontological security needs. This is an essential guide to some of the key geopolitical actors of the emerging Middle East.
-Marc Lynch, The George Washington University

About the Author

Cinzia Bianco is a Senior Research Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations