Renewed ties kindle hope for better future
SUMMITS IN RIYADH HAVE BEEN WIDELY PRAISED AS PRODUCTIVE
P eople in the region have welcomed the long-awaited resurgence of America’s historical alliances with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states following US President Donald Trump’s first visit to the Middle East since his inauguration on January 20.
Trump participated in three summits during his visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend. These included a bilateral summit with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, the GCC-US summit with leaders, or representatives, of the six-member GCC — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a summit with leaders from the GCC, Arab and Islamic countries.
‘Back to the right path’
The summits which ended with a promise to stamp out extremism, were deemed highly successful by all participating parties.
“The summits held in Riyadh have restored the time-honoured, strategic relationship between the US and the GCC member countries, dating back to [32nd US President Franklin D.] Roosevelt, to the right path,” said Dr Mohammad Bin Huwaiden, chairman of the Political Science Department at UAE University.
Dr Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, professor of political science and chairman of the Arab Council for Social Sciences, said that the US under Trump has allied with the Gulf on three issues — confronting Iran’s expansion and dismantling its militias in Yemen, supporting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and stamping out postDaesh terror and Iran’s militias in Iraq.
Dr Abdullah said it seemed that Daesh’s days were numbered, with Trump insisting that fighting terrorism is “a battle between good and evil”, not between “different faiths, different sects, or different civilisations”.
“The region will be better off in the next half of this year, with the countdown to end the war in Yemen starting. In Syria, the situation is better with the strong support of the US, paving the way for more serious negotiations to bring in stability to the war-torn Syria,” Dr Abdullah said.
On her part, Dr Ebtisam Al Ketbi, chairwoman of Emirates Policy Centre, warned Arabs against unrealistic expectations and called on them to be more cautious about what Trump will deliver, given the challenges he is facing at home.
More hopeful now
“The situation is more hopeful now that the US has returned to the right side of history, but we should be cautious and diversify partnerships with China, Russia and other powers,” Dr Al Ketbi said.
Gassan Charbel, editor-inchief of Asharq Awsat, wrote that the summits succeeded in finding common ground but warned people should be realistic while going forward.
“In order to belong to the future, there is a price that must be paid. You cannot enter the future alone. You need partners. The message of summits are very significant,” he said.
Mohammad Jaber, a Bahraini analyst, told Gulf News that he was pleased with the public pledge made by Trump to Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa about the end of strains with the US administration.