Tensions in the Gulf

There seems to be little cooperation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is rare for the underlying tensions between Arab states to surface as has happened in the last week. Qatar is the hinge around which the disunity turns, and three members of the GCC have withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar after a reportedly stormy meeting in Riyadh. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE say that this move is to ‘protect security and stability’ within the GCC, which says nothing about the specifics of what is, in diplomatic terms, a severe disagreement. Pakistan is a player with a strong regional interest, having close relations with all the GCC states at a variety of levels from expatriate workers to remittances to defence and energy ties. Thus, tensions in the Gulf inevitably, even if only tangentially, impinge upon us.

Calls by states outside the GCC for a cooling of tensions are unlikely to cut much ice. Qatar is committed to supporting the ousted Morsi government in Egypt, and there are those in the GCC that suspect that it is making a return to pursuing an independent foreign policy outside the GCC’s framework. Qatar is also supportive of the Turkish position in respect of the conflict in Syria, which places it immediately at odds with both Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Some Arab politicians are critical and suspicious of the relationship between Turkey and Qatar, which almost certainly lies at the bottom of the ‘protect security and stability’ statement. Even deeper, there are the historical tensions, jealousies and rivalries that have bedevilled the Arab world for centuries, and which make unity of purpose at anything but a cosmetic level, difficult if not impossible. At yet another level, the Qatar-based — and funded — Al Jazeera is disliked by the other Arab states for its reach, power and liberal aspect, to say nothing of the fact that Qatar hosts Shaikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born scholar and powerful critic of both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The proposed GCC union seems dead in the water, and the Gulf bubbles.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2014.

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