Handbook

This class is a geopolitical analysis of the Gulf region, spanning the area from North Africa to the Indian Ocean and encompassing the Northern neighbouring states of the Gulf and with the UAE at its centre. Although the class’s transdisciplinary approach borrows from various disciplines (Political Geography, History, Anthropology, International Relations and International Law, etc.), it will use the methodology of Geopolitics to examine the ways in which tensions crystalise at different levels of analyses (local, regional and transnational). In line with the conventions of European Geopolitics, emphasis will be placed on the geographical framework, demographics and actors’ mental constructs (how local populations perceive the tensions of the area in which they live).

The entrenched structures of Gulf societies will be deconstructed, beginning with the region’s geographic and historical background and the anthropological features of the different communities. Key issues – such as weight of religious animosity, the rise of radical Islam and foreign interference in regional affairs – will be highlighted. Finally, the creation of a new geopolitical block – one centred on the Indian Ocean – will be presented.