ABSTRACT
By drawing on some of the broader literature surrounding Security Regimes, this chapter posits the idea that a particular type of regime, a ‘tacit security regime’, has begun to emerge between Israel on the one hand, and several Gulf Arab states on the other. It is a regime which, unlike liberal institutional variants that attempt to privilege the promotion of collective norms, remains configured around perceptions of threats to be countered and strategic interests to be realised. By examining the development, scope and scale of this nascent tacit security regime, this chapter explores the extent to which Israel sees the emergence of such a regime as redefining the political and strategic contours of Israel’s relations with much of the Middle East.
