Shaking things up: Gulf Security after the Iran Deal

The security situation in the Gulf was shaky at the start of 2015, and became more unsettled as the year went on and throughout 2016. Long standing problems were generally not resolved, and new ones arose in the course of the last two years. The major outside effort to bring stability to the Gulf – the Iranian nuclear deal – paradoxically was the prime driver of anxiety and possibly even of military conflict in the region. This article reviews the major events of the past two years and draws out the implications on the regional security complex.