ABSTRACT
The southern Gulf states are both dependent on US and other Western power projection capabilities for security against Iran and Iraq, and threatened by some aspects of that dependence. There are six southern Gulf states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The southern Gulf states all have relatively small manpower pools to draw on for the space they must defend. Saudi Arabia is the largest southern Gulf state in terms of both geography and military forces and is the key to any successful effort at regional cooperation in defense. The southern Gulf states made little progress towards effective military cooperation during the Iran-Iraq War and the beginning of the Gulf War. The national guard is being organized into modern military formations and rapidly expanded and is in a considerable state of turbulence. Saudi Arabia has several important paramilitary forces in addition to its national guard.
