A Low Spirited Gulf Summit!

"The 30th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit" is due in Kuwait in exactly one week of now. The GCC leaders will meet as usual to discuss hot issues, some of which are thorny, while others are sensitive, since they tackle the core of intra-Gulf relations. The summit will also address domestic issues, some of which are hit by chronic "bureaucracy" flu, inside official Gulf institutions. Others need a firm stance that calls for reconciliation, frankness, and clarity among brothers, over some of the Gulf country stances on regional issues, without any margin for courtesy, prevarication, or equivocation.

Rich Gulf countries are encompassed by many mistakes, on the forefront of which are Iran's threat and its nuclear dossier, as well as its occupation of Gulf (Emirati) territories, in addition to its continued attempts to destabilize its neighbors and to push its forces, militias and agents to infringe security in the Gulf region. Iran is considered a threat to GCC nations. It is seeking entrances and exists, I order to mingle in its neighbors' affairs, based on an expansionist policy that is derived from clear ambitions of swallowing up small countries by adding them to its map. It is also working on transforming other countries into targets for its missiles, in order to detonate their oil wells and strike their military bases.

The "Kuwait Summit" will discuss many matters, but from my point of view, the political, economic, and security ones will be a priority, despite the clear differences and contradictions of the joint political Gulf action. Tension is witnessed between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sometimes it surfaces, and then it disappears; yet, it is always present, even if timidly. The UAE announced its withdrawal from the currency agreement, under the pretext that the latter is unjust, because it will not be the country to host the headquarters for Gulf committees on its territory, and due to the fact that it was the first country that requested to host the Gulf Bank, although other Gulf countries voted unanimously that its’ headquarters be in Riyadh.

For its part, Saudi Arabia banned Emirati citizens from entering its lands with their identity cards, because the map drawn on these cards involves violation of its border and does not conform to the border agreement signed between the two countries under the sponsorship of the United Nations.

In the meantime, Oman is getting close to the Gulf system at times and departing from it at others, since it is not defining, on several occasions, its positions over a number of regional issues. Qatar, for its part, is witnessing change, or maybe, it is more like a country that is dancing on many political arena, to the extent that the path it wants to take has become unclear, despite the fact that the Iranian danger is threatening it more than any other country, even though it is courting Tehran and wooing the "Houthis", "Hezbollah" and "Hamas." This will not prevent Iran from directing its missiles to the US Al-Udeid and Al-Sailiya air bases, which Qatar hosts on its territory, even if "Al-Jazeera" channel is not raising the issue of this threat and if some newspapers – whose editorial staff lives on the Qatari "gas" funds – praise the country’s diplomacy with Iran.

Before each Gulf Summit, many statements are made, promising Gulf citizens of many good things, but they soon retreat and go down the drain, or become "postponed."

The Secretary General of the Council, Abd-al-Rahman Al-Attiyah, describes the Kuwait Summit as an "exceptional" one, since it is being held under difficult regional, Arab and international circumstances. The descriptions Al-Attiyah gives before any GCC summit are numerous. However, he is unable to move forward with simple issues that are hindered by "bureaucratic" and known passageways in some GCC countries. For example, as far as I know, Kuwait was the first country to suggest that citizens move among Gulf countries with identification cards, but it was the last country to implement this suggestion. Even more, it has not even signed, till this very moment, this agreement with some of the Gulf countries.

I think that discussing the threats that target the Gulf countries, their sovereignty and borders is the topic that deserves the lengthiest discussions and examination at the present time. The situation in Iraq and Yemen is among the most important dossiers that require a great deal of frank discussion. This issue is even more important than those of Lebanon and Palestine, especially when it comes to the situation in Yemen, the issue of the Houthis and the assistance of the displaced. The real threat to the Gulf countries comes currently from its borders with Iraq and Yemen, as these two have long frontiers with the some of the countries in the Gulf. This requires setting security, military and economic plans that can fortify the border and uncover the agents and those wanting evil for the Gulf countries, for the sake of Iran.

Beyond no doubt, the Gulf summit is held in a very important location and at a very delicate time. However, it will not achieve more than what was done in preceding meetings. This lures me into calling the Gulf summit low spirited, and considering it as deceitful as the Gulf countries' summits that were convened in the past 30 years, and are still unable, until today, to achieve anything feasible.