The Widening Gulf

"SO thrive in my dangerous affairs of hostile arms!" Shakespeare might have put these words in the mouth of an actor on the contemporary world stage appearing in the role of the Persian Gulf, This oil-rich strategic region has been militarised merrily over the decade of Oil power by the United States, the Soviet Union and other industrialised states through the willing agencies of the local monarchs intoxicated by the borrowed glamour of arms. Kunwar Rajendra Singh, of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, offers in this trim handsome volume a detailed, sharp analysis of the arms transfers to the Gulf states in the 1970s and some perceptive suggestions on how to introduce a certain measure of arms control in that volatile region. The Persian Gulf has acquired unusual importance for India's security and national interest. Indeed the two geopolitical areas of the Gulf and South Asia have been telescoped into a single geostrategic area in the last decade, although at present the Reagan administration is trying to create a new strategic area concept called Southwestern Asia which, in Washington's current military oriented perception, extends from Egypt to Pakistan. Whatever may be the US intentions, it is in India's interest to develop in our universities and research centres serious studies of the political, social, economic, strategic and military aspects of the Persian Gulf region and its individual members. Unfortunately, we have only a handful of scholars specialising in Gulf affairs. Among them K R Singh stands out with his research and analysis, his published books and papers.