Publication

This paper explores whether the lessons learned from the transformation of Europe from a conflict region into a security community could be transferred to the Persian Gulf. The author records and analyses the European experience with the application of such security models as the balance-of-power, nuclear deterrence, arms control and confidence-building, democratic peace, and regional integration, as well as various alternative models such as common security and defensive restructuring of the armed forces. The paper further also analyses the structure and dynamics of the Persian Gulf region and discovers that few of the European models actually may be applicable there. The author concludes with an outline of two plausible scenarios for the development of the Persian Gulf region following the invasion and occupation of Iraq.