This article analyses the Gulf crisis and explores the historical, strategic, and geopolitical dynamics that led to the crisis and looks closely at the rivalries taking place in the region. Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and cyber threats, the paper also reviews some of the most notorious cyber-attacks that occurred in the Gulf region, while shedding the light on recent manifestations of the blockade imposed on Qatar and the ensuing political and media warfare.
This paper investigates the current Gulf crisis by examining five central themes. First, the theoretical underpinning and key concepts concerning Information Warfare are discussed in relation to information space and the media sphere. The second theme explores the historical, strategic, and geopolitical dynamics that led to the crisis and looks closely at the rivalries taking place in the region, with a particular focus on the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and cyber threats, the third theme examines the cyber-attacks that occurred in the Gulf region up until the Trump Presidency. The fourth theme sheds some light on recent manifestations of the Gulf crisis and the anti-Qatar coalition’s modus operandi. Last, Qatar’s response to the crisis is reviewed and evaluated.
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