Addressing seablindness: defense diplomacy and NATO-GCC cooperation in countering naval hybrid threats

This article examines the strategic potential of defense diplomacy in enhancing cooperation against maritime hybrid threats between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Hybrid threats, marked by ambiguity, deniability, and cross-domain tactics, pose acute risks to the Gulf’s dependence on maritime trade, energy exports, and subsea digital infrastructure. While NATO has progressively adapted to these challenges since 2014, the GCC’s security architecture continues to display structural, political, and doctrinal shortcomings, as reflected in the 2024 Vision for Regional Security. Within a theoretical framework grounded on defense diplomacy and seablidness, the study advances two lines of inquiry: whether defense diplomacy can foster NATO-GCC cooperation on naval hybrid threats and what lessons the GCC may draw from NATO’s institutional adaptation. The article contends that defense diplomacy, as a scalable and low-risk instrument, is plausibly suited to strengthen NATO–GCC engagement amid evolving hybrid challenges, while also presenting practical initiatives to operationalize inter-institutional cooperation.