‘GCC must shun differences, unite, boost security of region’
“FOLLOWING the eruption of Gulf-Gulf conflict either on bilateral or multiple levels, a lot of surprises have emerged,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, an advisor to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the secretary general of the Arab Fund for Human Rights Dr Ghanem AlNajjar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“This happens although the conflict looks familiar among the states of the region in general and among small states in particular. It is needless to say the Gulf states are not the same and this is but natural because their components are different. Not just that, there are border disputes among them which have yet to be settled.
“In this connection, look at Bahrain and Qatar, for instance. These two nations resorted to the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle the conflict over the ‘Howar and Fisht Aldeebal’ islands instead of solving the issue through the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Committee.
“As a matter of fact, each Gulf state has its own peculiarity in terms of its genesis, history, population structure, economy, foreign relations, political system, power transmission and the naturalization policy. As such, the symmetry hypothesis among the Gulf countries, are not based on sociology or political economy.
“In this connection, we elucidate the political systems in the Gulf countries can be deemed rentier.
“Of course, there is difference in the level of political openness or in the level of the political participation, but this level doesn’t impact the general picture of the regimes such as the royal systems where the people have no say over the power transmission process or the exchange of the same.
“It is needless to say the six GCC states live in turbulent waters, or rather very turbulent, where the rate of wars caps that of any other region on our planet and this aggravates the state of fear and confusion in this part of the world.
“In this context, we say the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, for instance, which will celebrate the 31st inauspicious anniversary over the next few days, was scary for the Gulf states, because the existential threat was clearly visible.
“As a matter of fact, the GCC would have not been founded were it not for the fear and threat that were dictated by the then Iraq-Iran war which lasted for eight years followed by the Iraqi invasion and liberation of Kuwait, then the downfall of the Iraqi former regime which was involved in consecutive wars
“Meanwhile, we say there are three blocs in the GCC, but they have been curtailed to two. However, when the member states enter a state of hostility among each other, there is no need for any bloc.
“Likewise, the GCC four rich states and there is no economic exchange among them. Moreover, the decision making process in these states is based on individualism. Each of them has their own security system, but most of them are linked to security arrangements with great powers.
“Frankly speaking, I hope there is a coordination and merger among the GCC member states on the ground, but not confined to hopes only to create the Arab unity model and bring Yemen into its fold and may be some other Arab states also, because this prospective development shall constitute a realistic guarantee for a joint security and stability for member states in the framework of a popular contribution that shall help boost the stability of the entire region.”
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“Based on what was published by the Al-Rai daily last week, the World Bank (WB), says the educational process in the Middle East witnesses a significant setback due to the Coivd-19 pandemic to such an extent 53 percent of children under the age of 10 in this part of the world are unable to read or understand a simple text,” columnist Dr. Turki Al-Azmi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Speaking of Kuwait vision 2035 which was submitted by the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2010 along with a team of international and Kuwaiti experts called for concentrating on education and health in addition to the change of curricula as well as minimizing the volume of bureaucracy.
“Of course, it is the World Bank, which was behind the so-called ‘competency curriculum’ which has failed drastically. Consequently, we found how other countries have successfully adopted their educational methods and made significant progress at the public and higher education levels.
“However, we and some of our colleagues had many years ago hoisted the banner of education reform much before Tony Blair and the World Bank. In this connection, we refer to a conference that was held the end of last April where we submitted a worksheet over both the education and the health complete with recommendations and expressed our readiness to put the same in front of the decision makers.
“However, it is needless to say the recommendations and the studies are many but the level of education outcome is still bad. The members of the teaching staff in both the colleges and the universities realize the danger of this issue, and how the pandemic has negatively affected the students.”
“Beware of being dragged into side battles on the street, and thinking that you are right and your opponent is wrong. You may be severely beaten if not on the same day, as he may emerge another day after informing you about the ‘armistice’,” columnist Waleed Ibrahim Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Beware of thinking that you are the boss of your time on the street, even if you are right. This is because you do not know who your opponent is and what he is thinking. He may be crazy, or a drug addict or sick, and you may find yourself in the hospital or the cemetery!
“If he honks at you or crosses your lane to take your place, smile at him and say “go ahead”; otherwise he could turn violent just to prove he is the boss.
“If you see a young man parading with his car while his comrades have closed the road, pray for them for guidance and do not curse them or protest. Don’t seek the role of a hero to block his path because the scene could turn deadly in a blink of an eye.
“If someone stares at you at the signal, just ignore and look away, as if you are looking at the other street. If you give him an eye, expect him to get out of his car and open the door for you!
“If you notice the vehicle swaying in front of you or behind you, try to avoid it so that its driver will move away from you. Keep in mind that him watching YouTube or reading WhatsApp messages on his mobile phone is much more important than your life and his!
“If you want to return to your family safely while driving, consider yourself less cultured, and others culturally-sophisticated!”
“Since His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled was tasked with forming the current government, he and his ministers have been facing many interrogations. It seems that His Highness neither improved his choices nor put the right man in the right place. He assigned one minister in two heterogeneous ministries,” columnist Mubarak Mazyad Al-Maousherji wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Accordingly, 31 opposition lawmakers are striving to bring down this government through interrogation after interrogation.
“As for the 19 loyalist lawmakers, they started with impossible requests that violate the law and do not achieve justice as they demanded His Highness the head of the government to exclude seven of his ministers, despite the government’s denial later.
“It is said that these seven ministers do not deal well with them, do not fulfill their desires, or pass some of their transactions that do not meet the conditions and violate the law. Rather, they nominated two former ministers and a new one.
“His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled has only two options left — submit his resignation and leave the responsibility to someone else who may succeed in what he failed to achieve, or to extend a hand of cooperation to the group of 31 lawmakers.
“As for the partisans or those affiliated with them outside the Hall of Abdullah Al-Salem, perhaps the situation begins to improve and the wheel now turns in issuing the required laws, accomplishing many stalled projects, waging war against transgressions on public money or illegal acquisition of positions, controlling the street to curb bullying that began among some young people who violated the law and assaulted securitymen, and issuing comprehensive amnesty law.”