however, there have been a group of nations who have been able to maintain their authoritarian regimes within their respective states, all of which then form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). These states include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, and Oman which will be discussed more specifically in this paper. All of the nations in the GCC take the form of monarchies and are the last remaining monarchies in the Middle East. In order to maintain its authoritarian government, Sultan Qaboos of Oman has led his nation to be classified as “not free” by the Freedom House, an organization that studies various countries’ levels of freedom…
As a Fulbright fellow and masters’ student in social anthropology at Rutgers, I am actively conceptualizing the ethnographic project I wish to pursue at Harvard’s Ph.D. Program in Social Anthropology: the changing co-production of queer ethno-sexualities within the trans-cultural seascape extending across the Strait of Hormuz. As a queer man, atheist, and ethnic Baloch raised and based in a heteronormative Muslim Arab Gulf country (the UAE), coming from a family rooted in the Iranian Eastern…
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives is a South Asian island country which located in the Indian Ocean. Maldives lies on southwest of India and Sri Lanka. The chain of 26 atolls stretches from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to the Addu City in the South. The Maldives is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed countries, and the smallest Asian country by both land area and population. The Maldives has an area of less than 300 square kilometers and a total coastline of…
They soon passed several resolutions to condemn Iraq and demand a complete withdrawal from Kuwait (Encarta n.p.). Many countries in the UN that couldn’t afford to send troops sent money instead. Over $53 billion dollars were raised this way, with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait acting as the largest donors (“The Gulf War” n.p.). The UN also agreed to start an embargo against Iraq. An embargo is when nothing is bought from or sold to a country. Only medical supplies and emergency food could be purchased…
The Gulf War, also called The Persian War, was in the frontlines of America’s news from the beginning of the war until the very end. This war took place 2 August 1990-28 February 1991. This war was fought between Iraq and 39 other nations including The United States, Great Britain, Egypt, France, and Saudi Arabia. This war lasted 6 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days. The Gulf War was fought in multiple different countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. This war was fought to…
of these wars all vary, whether it is monetary gain, dominance and power, or control of resources. Regardless of the cause, the result of a war may end on a good note like it did for Kuwait in The First Gulf War of 1990. The Gulf War of 1990 provides, in large amount, an important piece of historical context for the 20th century. While the war was gruesome, the historical importance behind it has left a mark on all the surviving soldiers who fought in the war. The United States and its allies…
In 1990, within the Gulf region, political, social and economic tensions were high due to the differing islamic denominations in neighboring nations. By far the largest of these denominations of Islam was Sunni and Shi’a. Differing theological beliefs had created a volatile geopolitical landscape between Iraq and Kuwait. When Iraq came under a new regime and traditional beliefs had become increasingly common, a distaste for the largely Shi’a Kuwait developed, leading to the invasion of Kuwait.…
The city shines with vibrant hues of blue and gold, green and purple; tiny, yellow pinpricks of head lights moving along the network of streets like little ants. Towers boasting of elegant curves and sharp edges strain themselves around me, trying and failing to reach my height. To my right stretches the Persian Gulf and if I stare long enough to my left I can imagine seeing the Gulf of Oman over miles of undulating sand dunes. A cold rush of emptiness overtakes me and I absently remove a…
uranium. A possible extension of the conflict in northern Niger would have a serious impact on the security of energy supply to France ". (Lévêque, 2013) The purpose wasn’t to protect the economic interests of Mali but those that France has with neighboring countries. By demonstrating its military strength, France has reassured its economic partners. In 2012, the French military budget is $ 40.7 billion. By comparison, the American defense budget amounted to 698 billion, representing 43% of…
Coming into International Security Threats? I did not know what to expect. Originally I decided to take the class because I figured it would be beneficial to me. Since I am going into the military I wanted to gain knowledge about the threats our nation is facing. Thinking this class would help me make a more rounded officer I hastily clicked to register for the class. My first day of the class threw me for a loop. Instead of talking about how to solve the issue of international security…