Dr Zafer Mohammed Al Ajmi
On May 25, 2015, the air strikes of the Arab coalition targeted Ahmed Ali Saleh’s house, and what distinguishes this day is that it marks the 34th anniversary of the Cooperation Council’s establishment on May 25, 1981.
The council has achieved since its creation important steps at the political, military and economic levels. Gulf countries participated with Riyadh in both operations, Decisive Storm and Restoring Hope, as the Gulf citizens followed on social media with an unprecedented eagerness, the transformations in Riyadh after the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and the appointment of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, accompanied by political and military teams and a new economy.
No one disagrees that the Saudi scene these days is witnessing two changes: a) The war b) the ministerial changes that go beyond the traditional procedure and political ferment.
How can the Gulf countries read the shifts of the Saudi scene at this critical stage, from the perspective that there is no lenience in preventing harms?
The braveness of Operation Decisive Storm has pushed the Gulf people to accept upgrading the Arab cohesion beyond the Arab League, where Sudan and Jordan joined the actual security system, but the storm strength has melted differences and made the areas of agreement between them outweigh areas of disagreement, and that in itself is considered a big achievement than any war booty.
In relation to the recent ministerial positions in Riyadh, Gulf countries are concerned with the diplomatic work for being the most important channels of communication with the Cooperation Council as a regional organisation.
For example, the post of “Soldier” is occupied by two persons, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Interior Minister, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Defence Minister, while the diplomatic leadership is chaired by Ambassador Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir.
The recent events in Yemen, al-Qatif, and Dammam showed that the Soldier has the ability to create a climate of security and a strategy worthy of praise, as demonstrated by Al Jubeir during his preparation for the Camp David Summit when he said that Riyadh is able to deal with Washington in a tolerant atmosphere more than ever before.
The blessed Gulf countries that participated in Riyadh to apply the principles of the realist school to confirm the role of force in international relations, despite the unprecedented momentum in the events and the success of the Ministers of Interior, Defence and Foreign Affairs in Riyadh.
However, after 34 years from the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation, we can say that it is the responsibility of the diplomats to come out with an unenforceable project to unite the Gulf.
On the security front, terrorism must be eradicated putting an end to any attempt that harm security, and this can be done via a security agreement between the Gulf countries.
Gulf people believe that the defence Soldier may exceed the terms of the GCC joint defence agreement or does not even consider the unification of military educational brochures an achievement. However, we must work to build a unified army structures in all six countries. The Gulf countries consider Saudi Arabia their strategic depth, making the Gulf capitals its advanced lines of defence in a collective Gulf security system.
Gulf leadership is in Riyadh, which will require sacrifices from all parties on the altar for the sake of defending the Gulf.
The writer is CEO of Gulf Monitoring Group.
