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

'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

• Introduction1 The geopolitics of polarisation in the Gulf2 Theoretical framework Part I: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: the elusive quest for a security alliance3 Bahrain4 Saudi Arabia5 The United Arab EmiratesPart II: Kuwait and Oman: hedging between security and stability6 Kuwait7 OmanPart III: The centrifugal nature of Qatar’s security8 Qatar9 Conclusions

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

'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

• Introduction1 The geopolitics of polarisation in the Gulf2 Theoretical framework Part I: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: the elusive quest for a security alliance3 Bahrain4 Saudi Arabia5 The United Arab EmiratesPart II: Kuwait and Oman: hedging between security and stability6 Kuwait7 OmanPart III: The centrifugal nature of Qatar’s security8 Qatar9 Conclusions

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

'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

• Introduction1 The geopolitics of polarisation in the Gulf2 Theoretical framework Part I: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: the elusive quest for a security alliance3 Bahrain4 Saudi Arabia5 The United Arab EmiratesPart II: Kuwait and Oman: hedging between security and stability6 Kuwait7 OmanPart III: The centrifugal nature of Qatar’s security8 Qatar9 Conclusions