ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background for the role of the United States in establishing Iran and Saudi Arabia as its main allies in the Persian Gulf region. The chapter also explains the evolution and application of the Nixon doctrine as applied in the greater Persian Gulf area. Doing so, the chapter argues, built the foundation of the insecurity communities of the Persian Gulf region, as well as the emergence of so-called political Islam, which Saudi Arabia promoted as an alternative to Arab socialist nationalism.
