The New Ideological Threat to the GCC: Implications for the Qatari-Saudi

In his book Sectarian Politics in the Gulf, Frederic M. Wehrey argues that the Arab Gulf states are united by a shared threat perception and a shared discourse on security. Indeed, these states have much in common, including Sunni monarchial regimes, an abundance of oil and gas, similar socio- political conditions, and the US as a major ally. A constellation of these common characteristics makes the security challenges facing the Arab Gulf states almost identical. One major peculiarity of the security threats is that they have an ideological character more than a conventional military nature.

Throughout the modern history of the Gulf, these threats included Nasserism, Baathism, communism, and revolutionary Shiism from Iran.

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