ABSTRACT
Central Command (CENTCOM) has received support from the Department of State-which has pursued a parallel initiative called a “Diplomatic Strategy to Achieve US National Security Objectives in SWA.” While CENTCOM's area of responsibility stretches from Kenya to Afghanistan, the territories most critical for the successful prosecution of the two principal rapid deployment missions - stopping the Soviets in Iran and keeping open the flow of oil - are located in the immediate proximity of the Persian Gulf itself. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states undertook to defend shipping against Iranian attacks within the 12-mile limit of their territorial waters. During 1985 the continuing tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf were an insufficient cause for any fundamental change in the US-GCC security relationship. In any major confrontation between the US and the USSR in Iran or elsewhere in Southwest Asia, the GCC states would probably not be concerned with American basing preferences outside of the Arabian Peninsula.
