The ongoing military confrontation in the Persian Gulf region—pitting the United States and Israel against Iran—has spilled far beyond the confines of its direct combatants. Iran’s neighbors, including the Gulf states, Iraq, and Jordan, though not architects of this conflict, have nonetheless emerged as its primary victims. Facing the targeting of energy infrastructure, the disruption of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the erosion of economic confidence, and the retreat of investment flows, the Gulf has found itself positioned as the primary recipient of the fallout from a conflict whose objectives and endgame are defined well beyond its borders.
This reality imposes a strategic question of acute sensitivity, one that resists the comfort of diplomatic platitudes. The Gulf states are not genuine partners in this confrontation, and they put their diplomatic weight into preventing it; nevertheless, they are bearing the consequences of a war whose trajectory and terms of closure lie outside their control.
Read the full article at The National Interest here.
