The purported security and military alliance is reportedly supposed to include
six Persian Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, with its main goal being to
counter what they call Iran’s expanding regional influence.
Political experts, however, have cast serious doubt on feasibility of
Washington’s plans in this regard, noting among other things that the United
States is actually trying to "milk” the aforesaid countries by making them buy
increasing amounts of American-made weapons in the hope of warding off the
spurious "Iran threat.”
Analysts believe that there are many reasons for the American support of an Arab
military union styled on a Western alliance like NATO.Arab NATO is a goldmine
for American arms exporters and military-industrial complex as NATO-styled,
binding treaties would only increase the flow of American weapons across the
lucrative Middle East market and elsewhere.
In that respect, Trump has squeezed hundreds of billions of dollars out of Arab
monarchs for weapons they neither need, nor possess the expertise to use. By
inking an arms deal worth over USD 110 billion, Trump has invariably expanded
the longstanding military ties between Riyadh and Washington even further.
In addition to that, Riyadh will make USD 250 billion of commercial investments
in the US, providing the Trump administration with thousands of badly needed new
jobs. The monarchy will also be buying passenger aircraft and investing in US
infrastructure projects.
Of course, the real prize is in the biggest weapon sale in history, which has
the potential to bring in USD 380 billion for the US over the course of a
decade.
According to the White House, the Americans have been tasked with ‘modernizing'
the Saudi armed forces, as well as helping Riyadh develop its own smart weapons.
"This package demonstrates, in the clearest terms possible, the United States'
commitment to our partnership with Saudi Arabia and our [Persian] Gulf partners,
while also expanding opportunities for American companies in the region," a
White House said in a recent statement.
Informed sources say Washington has been quietly pushing ahead with a plan to
create a NATO-like security and political alliance between Arab countries to
confront Iran.
Reasons Why Arab NATO is Doomed to Failure
An Arab NATO has been aimed at confronting what they call the growing Iran
influence in the region. Observers say the entire project is doomed to fail due
to various reasons.
Darko Lazar, a political analyst on Lebanese Alahed news websiterecently wrote
that similar initiatives by previous US administrations to develop a more formal
alliance with monarchies of Arab allies have failed in the past.
"As such, an Arab NATO is a US/Saudi project with clearly defined roles: Riyadh
pays, Washington provides the arms, Cairo provides the bulk of the manpower, and
the ‘Israelis' pitch in largely in the field of intelligence,” the analyst said
Some strategic differences between Arab monarchies have led most analysts to
conclude that uniting Arab militaries under one umbrella remains unlikely.
Such an outlook seriously jeopardizes Washington's efforts with the Saudis at
the helm. The Saudis cannot operate independently. Their newest military jets
are piloted by Pakistani and Egyptian pilots, while other foreign nationals are
already dying in droves to defend the kingdom's southern border.
Perhaps the biggest hurdles to the establishment of an Arab NATO lay in the
widening cracks within the supposedly monolithic [Persian] Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC).
In late May, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain blocked websites
belonging to fellow GCC member Qatar -- including Al-Jazeera -- over statements
posted on a state-run news agency. Doha quickly claimed its official websites
were hacked after statements critical of Trump and praising Iran, were
attributed to the Qatari Emir.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt severed
diplomatic relations with Qatar in a scheme generally believed to have been
orchestrated by Riyadh.
Doha has own geopolitical ambitions, which can hardly be considered compatible
with those of Saudi Arabia. Observers said the move was because, unlike other
Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, Qatar retained a foreign policy partially
independent of Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen is facing its own set of challenges.
Besides the obvious military failures, the Saudis and the Emiratis each have
dramatically different views on the way forward.
Smoke billows following an airstrike by Saudi targeting the al-Dailami air base,
in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, on April 5, 2018. (Photo by AFP)
The UAE supports the creation of an independent South Yemen and opposes
wide-scale military operations against Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah fighters
strongholds in the north.
No less important are the disagreements between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi when it
comes to Libya, where the Emiratis have teamed up with the Egyptians to back
General Khalifa Haftar and the Libyan National Army in the east.
Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, says instead of building deeper relationships and coalitions, the Arab
states of the Persian Gulf have resorted to a constantly shifting mosaic of
alliances, which often have led to contradictory partnerships.
All in all, even if the Arab monarchs of the GCC can agree on an effective
strategy, the move is viewed more as a tactic by Washington to cajole Riyadh and
Abu Dhabi into buying more weapons, which may boost their public image but will
never serve as a bulwark for the collective security of the freely navigable
Persian Gulf.
Source: Press TV