Skip to main content
  • Sections
  • Search

Center for Strategic & International Studies

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Cybersecurity and Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Governance
    • Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy
    • Military Technology
    • Space
    • Technology and Innovation
  • Defense and Security
    • Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
    • Defense Budget
    • Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation
    • Defense Strategy and Capabilities
    • Geopolitics and International Security
    • Long-Term Futures
    • Missile Defense
    • Space
    • Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation
  • Economics
    • Asian Economics
    • Global Economic Governance
    • Trade and International Business
  • Energy and Sustainability
    • Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Impacts
    • Energy and Geopolitics
    • Energy Innovation
    • Energy Markets, Trends, and Outlooks
  • Global Health
    • Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Immunizations
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Health and Security
    • Infectious Disease
  • Human Rights
    • Civil Society
    • Transitional Justice
    • Human Security
  • International Development
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Governance and Rule of Law
    • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Private Sector Development
    • U.S. Development Policy

Regions

  • Africa
    • North Africa
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Americas
    • Caribbean
    • North America
    • South America
  • Arctic
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
  • Europe
    • European Union
    • NATO
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Turkey
  • Middle East
    • The Gulf
    • Egypt and the Levant
    • North Africa
  • Russia and Eurasia
    • The South Caucasus
    • Central Asia
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Russia

Sections menu

  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
    • Blogs
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Critical Questions
    • Interactive Reports
    • Journals
    • Newsletter
    • Reports
    • Transcript
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • Web Projects

Main menu

  • About Us
  • Support CSIS
    • Securing Our Future
Report
Share
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Printfriendly.com

Gulf Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities

Terrorism and Asymmetric Warfare

August 27, 2009

While much of the world has focused on Iran’s missile developments, and possible nuclear capabilities, this is only one of the risks that threaten the flow of petroleum products from the Gulf – a region with some 60% of the world’s proven conventional oil reserves and 40% of its natural gas. Far more immediate threats have emerged in terms of asymmetric warfare, terrorism, piracy, non-state actors, and other threats.

The Burke Chair at CSIS has developed a new briefing that provides an overview of these threats, showing current trends and highlighting the strategic geography involved. This brief looks beyond Gulf waters and examines the problems created by Iran’s ties to other states and non-state actors throughout the region. It highlights Iran’s capabilities for asymmetric warfare, but it also examines the threat from terrorism and the role it can play in nations like Yemen. It looks at the trends in piracy and in the threat in the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean.

The key issues addressed are:

  • Terrorism
  • Asymmetric Warfare;
  • Maritime and Border Security;
  • Combating Piracy;
  • Critical facilities and Infrastructure;
  • Role of Chokepoints; and
  • Role of State and Non-State Actors

Countermeasures include:

  • Prepare for all types of threats, and full spectrum of terrorism and asymmetric warfare;
  • Jointness and inter-ministry cooperation;
  • Regional and international cooperation
  • Focus on both active and passive defense;
  • Broad, non-compartmented situational awareness with real world operational response - critical value of IS&R and C4I;
  • Intelligence Cooperation
  • Gaming and “red teaming”
  • Design civil and commercial facilities and infrastructure for deterrence and defense.

This briefing is entitled Gulf Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities: Terrorism and Asymmetric Warfare, and can be found on the CSIS web site at https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/090827_gulf_terror_assym.pdf.

This report is the third report in a series of three. The two previous reports in the series are available on the CSIS website:

  • “Iran Status Report: Iran and the Challenges to US Policy” available at: https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/090812_iranbrief.pdf.
  • “GCC-Iran: Operational Analysis of Air, SAM and TBM Forces” available at: https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/090819_GCC_Iran_AirPower.pdf.

Additional work on Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities and the threats they pose to regional security are available at: https://www.csis.org/programs/burke-chair-strategy/iran/irans-military-and-nuclear-capabilities.

In addition, a new CSIS/Praeger book on Iranian military and asymmetric forces, Iran’s missile and WMD programs, and the challenges they pose to regional/international security and US Policy, entitled Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Birth of a Regional Nuclear Arms Race? will be published September, 2009. 

Downloads
Gulf Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities
Written By
Anthony H. Cordesman
Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
Adam C. Seitz
Media Queries

Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Caleb Diamond
Media Relations Manager and Editorial Associate
Tel: 202.775.3173

Related
Burke Chair in Strategy, Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, Defense Strategy and Capabilities, Defense and Security, Energy and Security, Geopolitics and International Security, Iran, Iran's Military and Nuclear Capabilities, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and the Gulf, Terrorism and Counterinsurgency

Most Recent From Anthony H. Cordesman

Upcoming Event
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) High-Risk List
March 10, 2021
Report
The Biden Administration: Strategy and Reshaping the National Security Budget
By Anthony H. Cordesman
February 16, 2021
Report
The Biden Administration’s Security Challenges in the Gulf
By Anthony H. Cordesman
January 27, 2021
Commentary
Writing Off Afghanistan: Does Biden Have a Choice?
By Anthony H. Cordesman
January 19, 2021
Commentary
The Joint Chiefs on the January 6, 2021 Riot in Washington
By Anthony H. Cordesman
January 19, 2021
In the News
Trump Team Makes Last-Minute Moves to Box In Biden on Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy | Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch
January 11, 2021
Report
The Biden Transition and Reshaping U.S. Strategy: Replacing “Burden Sharing” with Meaningful Force Planning
By Anthony H. Cordesman
January 11, 2021
Commentary
Making America Great? Global Perceptions of China, Russia, and the United States: The International Scorecard
By Anthony H. Cordesman
January 7, 2021
View all content by this expert
Footer menu
  • Topics
  • Regions
  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
  • Web Projects
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • About Us
  • Support Us
Contact CSIS
Email CSIS
Tel: 202.887.0200
Fax: 202.775.3199
Visit CSIS Headquarters
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Media Queries

Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Caleb Diamond
Media Relations Manager and Editorial Associate
Tel: 202.775.3173

Daily Updates

Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs.

Subscribe to CSIS Newsletters

Follow CSIS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

All content © 2021. All rights reserved.

Legal menu
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprint Permissions