The GCC Economies Are Facing The Challenges Of War – OpEd |
How long will Gulf States bleed for war on Iran that the United States and Israel are waging? That’s a question a recent Newsweek article posed. According to the reporting, specialists from all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states describe a “growing frustration with the U.S. approach to the war with Iran and a perception of Trump prioritizing Israel.”
What The Guardian has called a “worst nightmare,” the war has impacted the GCC states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to such a degree that they are consumed with fury as they absorb the shock of a conflict they did not want. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure have placed particular pressure on regional economies. For the GCC economies, costs like these don’t have any corresponding political gains. The GCC’s bargain—American bases in exchange for defense and security—doesn’t look quite so beneficial at the moment.
Further, the GCC is a strategic hub of aviation, tourism, and investment, and these industries are suffering because of the war. The Gulf states were aware of the implications before the war started. Once Israeli struck Doha in September without any reaction from the Trump administration, it served as both the “turning point” and the writing on the wall.
According to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the GCC States were pulled into a losing battle. He has warned of getting dragged into the conflict. At the same time, he points out that “the GCC possesses a radical, unconventional, and highly effective tool to force an end to the hostilities: a collective and complete halt of all oil and gas exports.”
Israeli tactics, in particular, have escalated the conflict. Israel has attacked, for instance, a desalination facility in Iran and struck 30 oil storage........