Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi

Öz

As a result of recent developments in the Middle
East, Gulf countries have been perceiving serious threats to their national
security. These security worries (uprisings, the Iranian nuclear deal, and proxy
war in the region) are causing Gulf countries to search for new security
policies. Within this frame, a leaning towards a uni-dimensional security
policy dependent on the USA has been observed. It is possible to name this new
policy as “defensive activism”.

As a result of defensive activism, Gulf countries
first expelled the actors regarded as being the sources of problems during the
Arab Spring, targeting particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Secondly, it
prioritized the increase of armament in the aftermath of the Iranian nuclear
deal in the new regional and global context. Thirdly, Gulf countries have begun
looking for both variety in their armament as well as new partner centered
around security due to the tensions they have experienced with the US in the
past year.

The responses that Gulf countries have been trying
to create against their most sensitive issue of the Iranian threat has caused
the reflexive use of force to come to the forefront on one hand and the
appearance of huge costs due to the lack of strategic planning, as seen in the
Yemen example, on the other. Thus, in the period after the Arab Spring when the
regional order has been re-shaped, it is of great importance to consider the
Gulf security construction by paying close attention to the threat perceptions
of the region’s countries and the possible reactions these perceptions will
cause.