The 2017 Gulf Crisis

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. The 2017 Gulf Crisis: An Introduction

   • Mahjoob Zweiri, Md Mizanur Rahman, Arwa Kamal

   Pages 1-18

3. Gulf Security

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

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   2. Underlined Vulnerabilities of the Gulf Region: A New Understanding

      • Mahjoob Zweiri, Betul Dogan-Akkas

      Pages 21-34

   3. Qatar–Turkey Rapprochement: Challenging the Regional Status Quo in the Gulf Security Sub-complex

      • Mustafa Cüneyt Özşahin

      Pages 35-49

   4. Qatar Crisis: GCC States’ Perception of Regional Powers

      • Noof Rashid ALDosari

      Pages 51-75

   5. Transformations of the Gulf Security Landscape After the Gulf Crisis: A Geopolitical Approach

      • Nayef bin Nahar Al-Shamari, Hamad Al-Mohannadi

      Pages 77-100

   6. The Cyber Operation Against Qatar News Agency

      • James Shires

      Pages 101-113

   7. Trans-Gulf Resonances: The Central Role of Egypt in the Saudi Dispute Over Qatar

      • Moisés Garduño García

      Pages 115-127

4. Threat Perception

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 129-129

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   2. Evolving Threat Perceptions and Changing Regional Dynamics in a “Post-GCC” Era

      • Kristian Ulrichsen

      Pages 131-143

   3. Popular Sentiments and Elite Threat Perception in the Gulf: Iran in the Public Discourse in Saudi Arabia

      • Éva Ádám

      Pages 145-161

   4. The GCC, Iraq, and Iran: Perception of Threats Before and After the Crisis

      • Shaikha Majed Al-Moslemani

      Pages 163-178

5. Developing Strategic Relations and Shifting Political Alliances

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 179-179

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   2. The Qatar–Iran–Turkey Nexus: Shifts in Political Alliances and Economic Diversification in the Gulf Crisis

      • Robert J. Riggs

      Pages 181-191

   3. Look Middle, Look East! The Future of GCC Strategic Partnerships

      • Shareefa Al-Adwani

      Pages 193-210

   4. The Malaysia–Qatar Relationship: The Perspective from Malaysia—An Emerging Middle Power

      • Ishtiaq Hossain, Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri

      Pages 211-225

6. Foreign Policy Dynamics in a Post-GCC Era

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 227-227

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   2. Competing Radicalisms: A Comparison of Saudi and Iranian Foreign Policies After 2015

      • Mahjoob Zweiri, Majed Al-Ansari

      Pages 229-246

   3. The Gulf Crisis: Turkey’s Soft Power in the Gulf

      • Nesibe Hicret Battaloğlu

      Pages 247-269

This book provides an overview of the origins, repercussions and projected future of the ongoing Gulf crisis, as well as an analysis of the major issues and debates relating to it. The Gulf region witnessed an extraordinary rift when, on 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut all diplomatic ties and imposed a siege on the State of Qatar following the hacking of the Qatar News Agency website. This book approaches the Gulf crisis from an interdisciplinary perspective by bringing together a group of top scholars from a wide range of disciplines and areas of expertise to engage in a nuanced debate on the current crisis. With the pressing role of media in general and social media in particular, new political realities have been created in the region. The book addresses the role that cyber and information security play on politics, as well as the shift of alliances in the region as a result of the crisis. It scrutinizes the role of media and information technology in creating political cultures as well as conflicts. The book also explores the long-term economic implications of the siege imposed on Qatar and identifies how the country's economy is adjusting to the impact of the siege. Thus, the book considers the extent of social and economic changes that the crisis has brought to the region. This book invites in-depth understanding of the regional crisis and its implications on nation building and the reconfiguration of political and economic alliances across the region. It will appeal to a broad interdisciplinary readership in the area of Gulf studies. 

• Gulf Crisis
• Epistemology of the Gulf Crisis
• Cyber and Information Security
• Role of Media and Information Technology
• The foreign policy of Qatar
• Shift in political alliances
• Geopolitical Realignments
• Qatar’s Blockade
• Qatar-Turkey Relations
• Competing economic and political interests

• Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

  Mahjoob Zweiri, Md Mizanur Rahman, Arwa Kamal

Mahjoob Zweiri is the Director of Gulf Studies Center. He is an Associate Professor in Contemporary History of the Middle East at Qatar University. He was the Head of Humanities Department at Qatar University from 2011-2016. He holds a PhD in the Modern History from Tehran University (2002). Before joining Qatar University in 2010, Dr Zweiri was senior researcher in Middle East Politics and Iran at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan. He was also a visiting professor to School of Government & International Affairs at Durham University. From March 2003-December 2006 he was a research fellow and then a director of the Centre for Iranian Studies in the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University. Dr Zweiri has more than 50 publications in the areas of Iran and Contemporary Middle East. In addition to Arabic, Dr Zweiri is fluent in Farsi and English.


Md Mizanur Rahman is Associate Professor in the Gulf Studies Programat Qatar University. Rahman is a sociologist by training, working on international migration of labour, diaspora, migration policy and other related fields of migration with a focus on the Gulf states and South and Southeast Asian countries. He is the Series Editor of Gulf Studies. 


Arwa Kamal is a research scholar at the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University. Her research interests cover a wide range of topics including Gulf politics, Gulf-North Africa relations, foreign policy of the Gulf States, and social and political changes in the Gulf region. 

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