Anglo-American Policy Toward the Persian Gulf, 1978-1985

For many commentators and historians the announcement of the Carter Doctrine signaled the end of the British presence and the final transfer of power to the United States in the Persian Gulf. But on the ground the reality was different, after the announcement of the British leaving the Persian Gulf in 1971, formal positions were replaced by informal ones. Britain still ran much of the political, economic and military life in the lower Gulf and in the Arabian Peninsula. The transition from formal to informal empire was seamless: British influence remained large and almost paramount in the region. Margaret Thatcher's premiership saw a sharp increase in British influence not only in the traditional British enclaves of the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, but surprisingly even in Saudi Arabia. The historic Al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia in 1985, selling advanced fighter aircraft, was Britain's largest ever arms deal. While British influence in the Gulf increased, the Americans floundered

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