Özet:

In the post-Arab Spring, the United Kingdom (UK) took significant political, economic, and military steps toward the Gulf/Gulf countries to increase its strength in the region by exploiting its historical ties and regional dynamics. In this context, it strategically established a military (naval) base in Bahrain and extended its base in Oman to strengthen its military presence in the region. Additionally, after the Brexit decision, the UK approached the Gulf countries, which have immense natural resources, to meet the increasing energy demands, provide energy security and maintain its economic stability. Moreover, the Russia-Ukraine war affected the trade relations of the UK, as well as many European countries, and pushed the UK growingly for rapprochement with the Gulf countries. Interestingly, while making security/military and commercial agreements with Gulf countries, the UK also tried to improve its relations with Iran despite their long-standing political disagreement, which can be analyzed that the UK desired to increase its influence/strength on both sides of the Gulf. Given this background, the systemic challenges/stimuli such as respectively the Arab Spring, the Brexit decision, and the Russia-Ukraine war inevitably forced the UK to maximize its ties with the Gulf countries. This research mainly examines how the systemic stimuli affected the UK’s relations with the Gulf region/Gulf countries in the post-Arab Spring from the perspective of the neorealist theory. Above all, it is expected to shed light on political, economic, and military/security relations between the UK and the Gulf/Gulf countries.

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