Strategic Hedging in the Arab Peninsula: The Politics of the Gulf-Asian Rapprochement offers a new perspective on the geopolitics of Gulf-Asian relations. Jean-Loup Samaan explores the dynamics underpinning the evolution of strategic partnerships between the Gulf States and Asian partners. He looks at how Gulf countries have pursued a diversification strategy in response to the risk of a potential retreat from the region on the part of traditional partners such as the US, and argues that, rather than being the result of a deliberate common policy on the part of the Gulf States, this trend derives from unilateral choices by Gulf leaders, best explained by the concept of strategic hedging'.

"Published on behalf of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies"--Colophon.

Introduction -- I. The end of the post-Gulf War order -- II. The rise of Gulf-Asian common strategic interests -- III. The politics of Gulf-Asian security cooperation -- IV. The fragile decoupling of regional power plays.