US-backed Israeli violence reshapes old Gulf enmities

“The perception that the US is currently unable or unwilling to engage” had led to a surge of regional diplomacy as Gulf leaders “react and respond”, said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy think tank in the US.

But the West’s collective refusal to pressure Israel into ceasing hostilities in Gaza, and subsequent support for its objectives in Lebanon, has deepened GCC leaders’ fears that their long-standing oil-for-security arrangements may be faltering.