Studies on Informal Security Cooperation among Middle Eastern Countries: Israeli-Gulf and Israeli-Turkish Relations

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19KK0319
• Research Category: Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (A))
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 06020:International relations-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Ikeuchi Satoshi 東京大学, 先端科学技術研究センター, 教授 (40390702)
• Project Period (FY): 2020 – 2022
• Keywords: 中東研究 / 国際安全保障 / 中東政策 / 外交政策

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The main focus of research was the growing informal security cooperation in which Israel and Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Throughout this research, framework of inter-institutional cooperation has been built between Japan, Israel and other Middle Eastern countries. The importance of the topic of this research was reaffirmed by the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE, which surfaced in August 2020 and the examination of the official and unofficial follow-up of the Accords has been the main part of this research. As a result, the Gulf countries' interest in maintaining official diplomatic relations is based on a long-term and high-level strategic decisions and thus maintained in spite of short term disturbances caused by Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and Israeli domestic turmoil. Israeli-Gulf relations has been kept unsymmetrical and Israeli effort to widen and deepen the relationship tends not to be rejected but postponed indefinetely.

Free Research Field

中東・イスラーム学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

2020年4月より実施された本研究は、イスラエルと湾岸産油国との間の、まだ公式化されていなかった安全保障上の関係の強化を対象とする、創発的で先駆的なものだった。２０２０年8月に発表されたイスラエルとUAE及びバーレーンとの「アブラハム合意」によって、このテーマの重要性や先駆性は、現実の展開によって明らかになった。イスラエル・パレスチナ紛争を構造的な最重要の要因と見做し、そこから派生する石油ショックの危険性を日本にとっての最大の懸念事項としてきた中東国際政治研究の主要な含意を塗り替え、イスラエルを含む中東地域の統合に重点を置く外交政策の必要性に帰結する学術的・政策的な意義を持つ研究となった。