If the number of annual international conferences on a subject is an indicator of its importance for the academic and the political worlds, there is no doubt that security in the Persian Gulf region is one of the most debated topics. The area has always been coveted by non-indigenous adventurers. The Portuguese presence in the region was followed by a lasting British dominance, which, in turn, would be dislodged by a new American military, political, cultural, and economic leadership. This historical foreign intervention coupled with emerging political independent entities—that is, states—has created a confrontational dynamic in the region based on territorial lines of demarcation.