BY MOHAMMED OSMAN
DOHA: The Islamic State (IS) militants do not pose a direct threat to the GCC states but a prolonged war against IS, led by the US, means draining the region’s wealth, a conference here was told yesterday.
IS and the youth from different countries joining this extremist group do not consider GCC states or their rulers their target and such groups emerge in countries where there is sectarian conflicts, poverty, political tyranny and oppression, according to Dr Mohammed Al Misfer, Professor of Political Science, Qatar University, who was a speaker at the two-day conference which ended yesterday.
The event ‘From Peoples’ Revolutions to an Arena of Regional and International Conflict’ was organised by the Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies.
The US began mobilising the region to support its wars decades ago and exploited the wealth of the GCC states in rebuilding what has been destroyed in these regional wars such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, Al Misfer told a session ‘The policies of Arab Gulf states towards political changes in the Fertile Crescent’.
The Americans mobilised this region against the erstwhile Soviet Union, communist parties and regimes, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Iraq and now IS and in all of these wars the GCC states have been involved in one way or the other. The US says the war against the IS will be long and may continue for 10 or 15 years and this means depletion of the GCC wealth and destabilising the region, he added.
The GCC states have joined the coalition against IS but the question is whether they did it with free will or to avoid further complications. They face disagreements at least since the withdrawal of three ambassadors from Qatar for reasons not related to their internal relations. None of these countries consulted their people or parliaments, if any, when they decided to join this coalition, said Al Misfer.
The US aim is to abet sectarianism as happening in Iraq, scare the Arab rulers, make them involve in its agendas to protect themselves, weaken the Arab states, export democracy by force and disunite the Arab states by encouraging tribal and sectarian movements.
Al Misfer said the GCC and other Arab rulers can be protected only by their own peoples, but to win public trust, they have to conduct real political, economic and social reforms, achieve justice and equality, and address the root cause of extremism through a comprehensive development plan.
In his paper ‘Repercussions of intra-Gulf conflicts on regional security in light of the waning of Arab revolutions and IS’, Dr Abdullah Babood, Director, Gulf Studies Centre, Qatar University, argued that the much-feared Shia Crescent has now become a Shia Circle, surrounding the GCC countries.
Disagreements between the GCC states have helped Iran strengthen its hold and besiege the region with Shia movements.
Disagreements between the GCC states are not new, he added, but the new thing this time is the way of handling the conflicts, making them public in the media and its timing. He doubted the success of the GCC summit that is going to be held in Qatar under such circumstances and before the return of the three GCC ambassadors to Doha.
Babood said the disagreement between GCC countries is basically because of the confusion created by the Arab Spring revolutions. Different positions adopted by each GCC country towards the military coup in Egypt is a telling example, he added.
Political and social reforms are inevitable for the GCC countries to benefit from their economic and political clout as well as the shift in Arab politics in their favour. Otherwise they will lose their status and the trust of their Western allies.
In his paper ‘Saudi Policy, Al Qaeda and IS’, Alain Gresh, Journalist, International Rights Activist and Secretary- General, French Association of Journalists of the Maghreb, said the Saudi policy towards Iran and IS was characterised by fear and inability. The kingdom has no clear policy towards these extremist organisations, many of which share its Salafist ideology, he added.
Contrary to the Saudis, Iran has a clear stance and many political tools to play with, and managed to create strong ties with different groups in the region, he said. The Peninsula
