ABSTRACT
National Security Strategy breaks with past US policymaking in the Persian Gulf, an undertaking that itself dates to the 1830s. A brief review of American engagement in the Gulf is all that is required to demonstrate that point. That review is broken down temporally in three contexts–the pre-Cold War, Cold War and post-Cold War eras. This introduction presents an overview of the concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book summarizes the history of the Persian Gulf, placing an emphasis on US foreign and security policy toward that region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines the George H. W. Bush administration's policies toward the Persian Gulf from 1989-93 and Clinton administration's policies toward the Persian Gulf from 1993-2001. The book also discusses the extent to which American policy toward the Persian Gulf will condition the evolution of the relationships between the United States and the states of the Greater Middle East over the long term.
