... based on the leading role of an out-of-area hegemon, which acts as an external security provider and an honest broker in regional disputes. The United States appears to be the perfect candidate to play this role. In fact, the concept of a “Greater Middle East” popular with the J.W. Bush — Junior Administration in the beginning of the century, envisaged building various military and political alliances in Middle East and North Africa under the US security umbrella. This concept, however, turned ...
... Iran into an eternal and irreconcilable enemy of the Arab states and the source of all evil – replacing Israel, of which the report makes no mention at all.
REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
Igor Ivanov:
Is a Collective Security System Possible in
the Middle East?
Point No. 4.
The GCC states must build a strategic deterrence system to guard against Iran’s interference into the Arab countries’ affairs.
The authors believe that pushing back against Iran is the basis for Arab unity, which, in turn, could replace the Islamist ...
... Russia’s credibility in other domains, including oil.
Even setting aside the issue of Russia’s trustworthiness, OPEC and the GCC countries are uncertain about the Russian government’s ability to control Russian oil production, due to the privatization ... ... an excuse after any non-compliance with a coordinated output cut is detected.
REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail
Maxim Suchkov:
The Middle East between the U.S. and Russia:
Potential Traps for Moscow
Even if Russia decided to keep its word, and its oil companies ...
... which can be solved via political negotiations.
To sum up, it can be stated, that Russian actions over Syria, accompanied by Moscow’s concrete political proposals aimed at initially creating a united front in the struggle against terrorism in the Middle Eastern region, and then at enabling a gradual political solution to its conflicts, seek to stabilize the situation in the region and are ultimately in the interest of all its countries, including the GCC states.
EPA / ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / RIA NOVOSTI
Julien Nocetti:
Why a Russian-Saudi Deal on Syria is Highly
Unlikely?
A GCC Perspective
Omar Mahmood
, Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies
Recently there has been a flurry of phone ...
October 2015
1. Introduction
In July 2015, the P5 + 1 countries reached a deal on the Iranian nuclear program and on the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Iran. This important development in Middle Eastern strategy led to extensive commentary from many different stakeholders, including the governments of the United States, Israel, Iran, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Russian and GCC commentators are very familiar with both Iranian and Western views regarding this decision. However, Russian and GCC commentators are relatively lacking in information about each other’s perspectives on this key development,...
The Camp David summit between Barack Obama and GCC states that took place on May 13-14 bears an enormous symbolic meaning for Washington as it echoes US Middle East peacemaking efforts under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. This time, however, the summit’s goal was to reconcile the US with its long-time partners in the region, the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The ties that have been weakening during ...