Formation and purposes of Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Abstract

This thesis answers questions about the root causes of the formation of the Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (hereafter, 'the Council'). In addition, it reveals the primary motivations of Arab and African states to create such a security grouping in the region and analyzes the role of leading states that contributed to its successful creation. All these topics have been the subject of conjecture because the Council, created in January 2020, has subsequently failed to deliver policy pronouncements or other announcements. The research employed a qualitative methodology and the student conducted semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts in six countries. Its findings demonstrate the primacy of Saudi Arabia in the Council's creation, the important (and conflicting) role of Egypt, and the neutral-to-wary stances of the African members of the Council. The thesis also finds that the major impetus behind the Council's creation in early 2020 was Saudi and Egyptian concerns about what they saw as threatening actions by external states, particularly Iran and Turkey, in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region. In terms of prescriptive analysis, the thesis found that the Council will be less-than-optimal in fulfilling its security goals if it fails to include major coastline states such as Israel and the independent, but internationally unrecognized state of Somaliland.

Date of Award	Jun 2022
Original language	American English