The Persian Gulf Triangle

A snapshot of the Persian Gulf today shows the prominence of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. The Persian Gulf Triangle argues that the relations between these countries have been interweaved since the 1970s. Luíza Cerioli builds a framework that explores how a change in the ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States has spillover effects on the Iran-US or the Iran-Saudi Arabia ties and vice-versa. Through a historical perspective, she explains how the durability of the US-Saudi ties is linked to expectations concerning the order, how different cognitive aspects shape the long-standing enmity between the US and Iran and how the Saudi and Iran ties have swung back and forward from rapprochement to rivalry due to varying threat perceptions. This innovative approach exposes patterns of interaction that are otherwise hidden, bringing more nuance to our understanding of the region. The Persian Gulf is presented as a dynamic multipolar system marked by power asymmetries, religion, oil wealth, militarisation and foreign interference. The book employs Neoclassical Realism to show how structure and agency matter when grasping the Middle East's international politics. It delves into ideological ambitions, status-seeking behaviour, national identities and leadership preferences to explain how decisions in foreign policy and grand strategy are taken. Hence, the Persian Gulf Triangle contributes to the progress of both the International Relations (IR) discipline and Middle East Studies (MES) by combining knowledge from the two fields in a rewarding analysis in which the international system creates conditions, but outcomes are shaped by regional particularities.