There is no declared preference as to whom the GCC would like to see in the White House for the next four years because very little will change for us.It seems all around the world, many leaders and people are following, with much anticipation and apprehension, the US Presidential election on November 6. The outcome will weigh on many issues and may affect their well-being and fortunes in the next four years.However, the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf in particular have borne the brunt of much of US blunders and missteps — which left Iraq shattered, emboldened Iran and upset the fragile balance of power in the Arabian Gulf. Now the US has coined a new phrase for its allies and foes … “Leading from behind”. Is it war fatigue? Or a growing public disenchantment over wars and foreign interventions.I believe in the Arab World and in the Arabian Gulf states, the survey could have mixed results. Not much will change in America’s overarching strategic approach to regional countries and issues. ‘The Change’ will be more in style and less in substance and may be a bit in policy. However, Romney, with his neoconservative agenda, provocative and sabre-rattling statements has come out in favour of war against Iran. He has made an offensive and insulting observation on Palestinians, saying that they are lagging behind the Israelis “because culture does matter”. He was mum on the issue of Israeli occupation, confiscation of land and depriving Palestinians from their rights. He was quite racist and offensive not only to Palestinians, but to all Arabs. For sure, it did not win him friends in the region
It was a welcome move by the US to engage the GCC states this year to elevate its strategic ties from bilateral, country-to-country contact in the GCC to dealing with the GCC collectively as a single entity. I had said in an earlier piece in Gulf News, that this move represents a major shift in US strategic thinking and a shift in US ties with its GCC allies. It is a move from alliance to partnership and should serve both sides well. The GCC has become, with its soft power and a bit of its hard power, the de facto leader of the Arab world due to its role in navigating, leading, initiating and steering the Arab world in times of crises. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in a meeting with the GCC foreign ministers last March, had reiterated the US commitment. “I underscore the rock-solid commitment of the US to the people and nations of the Gulf,” she had said. The US has promised to provide its GCC allies with a missile defence system to protect the GCC’s oil wells and ports from possible Iranian attack.The US shares with the GCC states the need to combat a host of regional challenges that require collective effort, rather than approaching them in an ad hoc, bilateral fashion. Clinton had pointed out at the Strategic Forum in March that the challenges for the US and GCC include ”terrorism, nuclear proliferation, piracy, as well as broader economic and strategic ties. Among other things, it should help the American and GCC militaries pursue in concert a set of practical steps, such as improving inter-operability, cooperating in maritime security, furthering ballistic missile defence for the region and coordinating responses to crises”.As I concluded my piece in Gulf News earlier, the GCC states, their leaderships and people yearn for security and peace for we are living in tough neighbourhood and are fed up with endless crises and wars. There is no declared preference as to whom we would like to see in the White House over the next four years … because we know very little will change for usProfessor Abdullah Al Shayji is the chairman of the Political Science Department, Kuwait University. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/docshayji
[ED NOTES:OK PROFESSOR LETS RECAP HERE... ON ONE HAND,YOU CRITICIZE FRAGMENTED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GCC AND WEST(WHO CONDUCTED 3 ZIONIST WARS),INSULTED PALESTINIANS AND EMBOLDENNED IRAN AFTER IRAQ WAR(WICH YOUR COUNTRY KUWAIT INSTIGATED) RIGTH?ON THE OTHER HAND,YOU ARE PRAISING,AND PROMOTING THE VERY SAME WEST AND NATO WHO WERE BEHIND THOSE WARS WITH HELP OF GCC MONARCHIES AND YOUR COUNTRY CORRECT?...I SWEAR YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS S#&T UP,IF YOU TRIED MY DEAR READERS...
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