Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are often seen as a threat to western nations. They raise political issues about the nature of their ownership, origin, objectives, portfolio & performance, & are regarded with suspicion by countries in which the SWFs invest. This text provides a comparative study of the 7 largest SWF holding countries.

This book provides a detailed analysis of the complicated relations between Iran and its Arab neighbours. Arab perceptions of Iran, its regional policies and role in the Arab region, have never been more complicated than today. How is one to make sense of the increasingly complex and at times tense relationship between Iran and its Arab neighbours? Given the strategic significance of this sub-region and the importance of relations between its states to international security, this edited volume systematically accounts for each Arab neighbour's perception, policies and approach towards the Islamic republic, for the first time providing a clear and detailed comparative analysis of these relationships. This book, bringing together a group of leading scholars of the region, not only provides a clear lens for the policy community through which to gauge the causes of change and the reasons for continuity in relations, but also offers an invaluable tool for scholars of the wider region and the growing community of researchers focusing on this sub-region.

Since the 1979 revolution, the ruling establishment of Iran has developed and articulated a defense strategy reflective of the country's Iran-Iraq war experience and its international isolation. Its asymmetrical warfare doctrine, use of irregular forces in military campaigns, deployment of ballistic missiles, use of fast naval vessels to harass and confuse adversaries, and finally development of a sophisticated cyber warfare capability, are all features of this unique defense strategy. Based on a wide range of primary sources in Persian, Arabic and English, Gawdat Bahgat and Anoushiravan Ehteshami offer a detailed and authoritative analysis of Iran's defense strategy. Additionally, this book provides a comparative analysis of the Islamic Republic's capabilities in relation to Israel and Saudi Arabia, its main regional adversaries. Framing Tehran's threat perceptions following the revolution within a wider historical context, this book will facilitate further analytical reflections on the country's changing role in the region, and its relations further afield, with the United States, Europe, Russia and China.

Since the 1979 revolution, the ruling establishment of Iran has developed and articulated a defense strategy reflective of the country's Iran-Iraq war experience and its international isolation. Its asymmetrical warfare doctrine, use of irregular forces in military campaigns, deployment of ballistic missiles, use of fast naval vessels to harass and confuse adversaries, and finally development of a sophisticated cyber warfare capability, are all features of this unique defense strategy. Based on a wide range of primary sources in Persian, Arabic and English, Gawdat Bahgat and Anoushiravan Ehteshami offer a detailed and authoritative analysis of Iran's defense strategy. Additionally, this book provides a comparative analysis of the Islamic Republic's capabilities in relation to Israel and Saudi Arabia, its main regional adversaries. Framing Tehran's threat perceptions following the revolution within a wider historical context, this book will facilitate further analytical reflections on the country's changing role in the region, and its relations further afield, with the United States, Europe, Russia and China.

In the last decade Russia has searched for new alternative policies to compensate for its political deficiencies and to balance its rivals in one of the key areas of the approaching geopolitical rivalry, the sea. The Russian assertiveness seen in the Black Sea-Mediterranean basin has recently been a real concern for the international community. In the six chapters of this book, contributors explain Moscow’s newly perceived assertive foreign and security behavior in the Black Sea and Mediterranean basin from their own perspectives, and reach a conclusion about the limits and validity of this new Russian ascendance in the region.

This book provides a detailed analysis of the complicated relations between Iran and its Arab neighbours. Arab perceptions of Iran, its regional policies and role in the Arab region, have never been more complicated than today. How is one to make sense of the increasingly complex and at times tense relationship between Iran and its Arab neighbours? Given the strategic significance of this sub-region and the importance of relations between its states to international security, this edited volume systematically accounts for each Arab neighbour's perception, policies and approach towards the Islamic republic, for the first time providing a clear and detailed comparative analysis of these relationships. This book, bringing together a group of leading scholars of the region, not only provides a clear lens for the policy community through which to gauge the causes of change and the reasons for continuity in relations, but also offers an invaluable tool for scholars of the wider region and the growing community of researchers focusing on this sub-region.

This book examines the origin, nature, the portfolio, organizational structure and operation of the seven largest SWFs from the perspective of the holding countries. Uniquely it tackles the issues from the perspectives of those non-OECD countries whose access to funds creates the most concern.

Provides an account of the discovery of oil in the Persian Gulf and the tension between domestic forces and international companies over the ownership of these resources, then examines price fluctuations from 1973 to 1998, analyzes dynamics of both demand and supply policies, and demonstrates the unique characteristics of the Gulf that will keep it as the major player in the oil industry well into the 21st century. Argues that the North Sea and Caspian Basin cannot replace the Gulf as the dominant player in energy politics.