The Arab Winter Is Coming

[TomSea]

The Arab Winter Is Coming
Gulf states are asserting themselves more than ever, and that’s a problem for the U.S.
Hassan Hassan
Senior research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism

Three years ago, then Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter attributed Iran’s growing dominance to its being “in the game, on the ground.” He urged its regional rivals to do the same, thus expressing a widely shared sentiment in policy circles at the time: Arab Gulf states need to rely less on the U.S. and play a greater role in their neighborhood.

In many ways, that is exactly what these countries have been attempting to do since 2015; and now Carter and others have reason to revisit their advice.

In the absence of strong American leadership, now spanning two administrations, the future of the region hinges on what local powers define as priorities, and how they go about trying to achieve them. Even if Washington decides to wake up, it will now find it far more difficult than in the past to assert itself.

Read more at: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/where-us-middle-east/574747/