The Persian Gulf and
the United Kingdom
Origins
For a period of
over one hundred and fifty years, from 1820 until its withdrawal in 1971,
Britain was the dominant power in the Gulf. Like many other European powers –
notably the Portuguese, the French and the Dutch – Britain’s initial interest
in the Gulf region, which began in the seventeenth century, was driven by the
development of trade and commercial interests. The nature of Britain’s
involvement began to change, however, after it consolidated and expanded its
colonial holdings in India.
As Britain began to deepen its mastery of
India in the eighteenth century, the Gulf emerged as a peripheral concern of
India, rather than as a strategic concern of London. As a consequence, British
policy regarding the Gulf up to the Second World War was primarily formulated
and conducted by the Government of India and not Whitehall. More often than
not, Indian aggressiveness in the Gulf was stymied by London, which saw
the Gulf as possessing only minor importance and certainly not worth
jeopardizing grander strategy in Europe. Still, the Gulf’s role in Indian foreign
policy was not entirely negligible.
Following the
General Treaty of 1820, local Arab rulers agreed to a number of other treaties
that formalised Britain’s dominant position in the region and limited their
ability to act independently without Britain’s approval. The increased
stability that this “Pax Britannica” brought led to increased volumes of trade
in the region. Ruling families began to actively seek British protection as a
means of securing their rule and safeguarding their territories.
UK Strategy
Containing or destroying this opposition has
been a core focus of UK strategy, as has guaranteeing the survival of regimes
considered friendly to British interests. This neo-imperial strategy has sought
to secure a range of interests, circulating around access to the region’s
crucial markets, bases and resources. Most obviously, securing access to, and
control over, the huge oil deposits in the region is considered to be of vital
importance.
The UK’s interest in the Gulf is about more
than oil. Securing access to other markets, including defence and construction,
also drives UK strategy towards the Gulf, as does, increasingly, ensuring that
the UK is preferred as a site for Gulf investment. Having a
secured military presence in the region also enables the UK to project its
power beyond into Africa, the Indian Ocean and Asia.
The UK has, for decades, focused on combating
regional forces which prove resistant to British and American interests.
British intelligence was central to the 1953 overthrow of the democratically
elected Iranian Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, after he began
nationalising the Iranian oil industry. The Iranian Revolution in 1979
challenged US and UK dominance in the region, as did the invasion of Kuwait by
Saddam in 1990.Today, a bewildering array of armed Islamist groups operate
across the region, opposed to the presence of Western forces.
Brexit
Britain’s departure from the
European Union will shape British foreign policy for years to come. Its
relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with which
the United Kingdom maintains deep-rooted military and economic ties, provide a
useful illustration of what lies ahead.
The UK’s increased engagement in the
Gulf had been well underway for some time. The years since 2012 have seen an
uptick in strategic and commercial agreements alongside an increase in trade.
But Brexit’s economic cost, as well as the UK’s reduced global influence
outside the EU, have augmented the perceived importance of relations with Gulf
States. A recent series of declarations and official visits demonstrate
that Britain is poised to intensify its commitment to the region.
The prospect
of a free trade agreement with the GCC, a rise in defence spending in the Gulf,
and the reaffirming of bilateral ties with a number of GCC countries all
underscore the UK’s renewed devotion to its regional presence. Geopolitical instability
and human rights violations perpetrated by Gulf monarchies will do little to
dissuade British policymakers from further strengthening relations with allies
in the Persian Gulf.
The British in the
Gulf: An Overview
British and the Gulf
Global Britain in the
Gulf
The British and the
Gulf
Jorge Emilio Núñez
Twitter: @London1701
28th November 2018
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