The Gulf Cooperation Council as a Regional Partner in Deterrence

Abstract

It is imperative that the United States develop a more effective nuclear deterrence strategy with regard to the Iranian desire to obtain a nuclear weapon. Recent U.S. approaches have been ineffective as Iran progresses in its nuclear development activities. The United States cannot expect a change in results without a change in strategy. Promoting the GCC as the lead diplomatic face of the nuclear deterrence effort would be a significant change in strategy. This paper outlines the ability of the GCC to serve as the regional lead in conducting nuclear deterrence. It explains the requirement for the GCC to have a nested strong conventional military capability within the gulf region as part of the overall deterrence effort. Finally, this paper draws conclusions concerning the ability of the GCC to act as the lead agent and makes recommendations for supporting U.S. theater security cooperation activities to enable a GCC deterrence effort.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 27, 2008
Accession Number
ADA494356

Entities

People

  • Bridget M. Rourke

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Force Protection
  • Governments
  • Middle East
  • Military Capabilities
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Political Systems
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • Theater Ballistic Missiles
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies