Arabs and Persians beyond the geopolitics of the Gulf

The formation of states, the definition of their interests and the mechanisms ­ education, socialization in the armed forces, nationalists' writings, print and electronic media ­ that served to create and spreand national ideas must be examined if one is to understand the form that the relations between Arabs and Iranians is currently taking. Indeed these relations owe much to these two factors ­ state- and nation-building- and much less to the Medes or Persians, Sunnis or Shi'ites, Ottomans or Safavis. To illustrate this point, one may divide the modern history of the Gulf into three periods : 1921-1958 ; 1958-1979 ; and 1979 to the present day.