Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US-led war
on terror has indeed accelerated global developments.
In 2001 and 2003, the campaign led to the outbreak of
two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively, which
were waged with resolve and strength by the “neoconservatives”
in the Bush administration. This lecture
examines and analyzes the important repercussions
for the Arabian Gulf as an arena for conflicting vital
global and regional interests, especially in terms of
geo-strategic, security and economic (oil) dimensions
alongside other relevant dimensions.
Main topics discussed included points of divergence
and convergence regard the two wars for the Gulf region
in regards to international relations and politics; the
nature of the current US strategic vision in dealing with
repercussions from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and
the commonalities between this vision and its vision
pertaining to the GCC; the examination of establishing
a Gulf security regional system to contribute to the
protection of the region’s security and stability; and the
nature of repercussions for mutual economic relations
between Afghanistan and Iraq on the one hand, and
the GCC countries on the other hand, in light of the
reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. What
are the general predictions for the nature of global geostrategic
and economic variables and repercussions that
would influence the Gulf region?