Rethinking Gulf Energy Security in the 21st Century

Abstract

Abstract This introduction outlines how the fragmentation of the Middle East state system, coupled with the shifts in the centrality of oil to the well-being of the Global economy, has now recast debates about the very nature of energy security and the future stability of the Gulf monarchies. Acting as a primer to the articles that comprise this special section of Journal of Arabia Studies, it highlights many of the attendant security issues surrounding energy diversification strategies now being adopted by many of the regions actors, while also highlighting the key differences that have shaped the responses of the individual Gulf monarchies to the challenges they now face in an ever more uncertain era.