US Budget Woes Compound Differences with GCC
Despite security and commercial ties with the United States, there is a growing trust deficit between Washington and Arab states on the Persian Gulf that fear the spread of Arab democratic movements and worry that the U.S. will sacrifice their interests for a deal with Iran.
WASHINGTON — News that the Pentagon can’t afford to keep more than one aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf is sure to rattle U.S. allies already uncertain of American resolve against Iran and upset with U.S. policies toward recent Arab political transitions.
Saudi Arabia and other key members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have grown increasingly reliant on informal American security guarantees and expensive US military hardware but are not in sync with Washington — or each other — on key regional issues, including the role of the Muslim Brotherhood and how to deal with Iran.
In a new report released Thursday [Feb. 7], Richard LeBaron, a former U.S. ambassador to Kuwait who's now a visiting senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, said common security and commercial interests “have not translated into the deep mutual trust that form the basis of long-term alliances.”
Differences have grown in particular over policy toward new governments in the Arab world that have replaced decades-old dictatorships.
