Private industry rather than government will play a key role in shaping economic and commercial cooperation among members of the Gulf Cooperative Council, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Economic cooperation can bring opportunity and growth to all concerned regions as well as foster agreement on issues of political policy and security. Commercial successes for the Gulf regions and the West can also lead to economic improvements in underdeveloped countries throughout the world.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman - are getting ready for what many now assume will be retaliation from Iran after an Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities later this year. Up and down the Gulf, Patriot missile batteries have been quietly deployed around key oil installations. The Patriot system is designed to detect, target and hit incoming missiles that may be no more than 10 to 20 feet long and flying at three to five times the speed of sound. Iran has hundreds of missiles and rockets.
The audience at the Arab World Strategy 2006 conference in Dubai suddenly parted like the Red Sea. Iran's national security adviser and chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, strode through the throng of Gulf notables like a visiting head of state. But what Mr. Larijani had to say from the rostrum was not only unambiguous but frightening. His harsh message left nothing to the imagination. Some in the audience even suggested it sounded like an ultimatum from the Gulf's dominant power. The time has come to expel the U.S. military from the region, Mr. Larijani said. And after that, Gulf Arab states the six Gulf Cooperation Council members must form an alliance with Iran. Meanwhile, Iran is presumably accelerating its nuclear timetable.
It is sometimes forgotten that Iran, under the late Shah, was one of Israel's, closest allies, and that Israel's covert arms deliveries to Iran during the eight year Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) allowed the Islamic Republic to resist Iraq's assault. President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli diatribes are not driven by antiSemitism, but by outrage - shared by much of the Muslim world - at Israel's cruel and oppressive treatment of the Palestinians under its rule. There remains the matter of Iran's relations with the Gulf States. Iran fears that it will be attacked from U.S. bases in the Gulf, while the Gulf States, in turn, fear that Iran will use the local [Shi]'a communities to undermine the current political order. These mutual fears could be allayed by a security pact between Iran and m...
... as the fitful diplomacy of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have had no percepti... between Iran and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Gulf States would pledge not to allow...
Security arrangements in the Middle East which exclude Iran and Iraq are fraught with risks of failure. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members perceive two types of security threats: aggression by Iran and Iraq or internal upheaval. Both the Damascus declaration and the Riyadh Declaration that envisage a US security umbrella and Syrian and Egyptian security assistance to the GCC are inadequate in case of war. If GCC is to become a security organization, it should allow the entry of Iran, Iraq, and Israel in the security setup.
ZRICH, Switzerland (HedgeWorld.com) - A report from UBS Wealth Management released on Tuesday [March 4] suggests that many of the world's major currencies are strongly overvalued with respect to certain emerging market currencies, something that many foreign exchange commentators have been saying for some time. However, investors would do well to remember that the risks entailed in this misalignment are not currently reflected in financial markets, according to the report. The authors said the seeds of this currency imbalance began more than a decade ago following the Asian currency crisis. Many governments devalued their national currencies in order to shore up internal finances, and then pegged them to the U.S. dollar at these new lower rates. Many currencies remain pegged to, or mana...
The number of Arab governments truly antagonistic to the US dwindled to almost none once Saddam Hussein was removed from power in early 2003. However, regimes that have long been friendly to the US are increasingly reluctant to follow Washington's lead on any issue. They are not enemies of the US, but they are not faithful allies, either. They have chosen diplomacy and reconciliation in their own relations with Iran, and they have tried to act as intermediaries and peacemakers in Lebanon and Palestine. This new independence of Gulf countries will be a challenge for the next US administration. Washington can no longer assume that the Gulf countries will follow its lead even if they do not like its policies. But this new assertiveness and independence are also an opportunity for the US to...
... managed to bring together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuw...
Foreign relations of the Gulf countries have changed noticeably in the five years since the Iraq-Kuwait crisis of 1990-1991. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were rather slow in comparison to other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in re-establishing their ties with war-time adversaries. The Oslo agreement has helped the PLO to mend its relations with Arab countries. Jordan also improved its relations with both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by giving asylum to Iraqi dissidents. The GCC members have made few efforts to build standing armies and continue to rely on the US for their defense.
MANAMA, Bahrain - A Saudi-led military force crossed into Bahrain Monday to prop up the monarchy against widening demonstrations that have sent waves of fear through Gulf states over the potential for enemy Iran to take new footholds on their doorsteps. The Bahrain conflict is sectarian as much as pro-democracy, as the strategic Gulf island nation's majority Shiite Muslims see an opportunity to rid themselves of two centuries of rule by a Sunni monarchy.
...Instead, the Saudis and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council sent forces the ot...
The best argument for the necessity of American victory in Iraq was made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Aug. 28 when he declared his regime was "prepared to fill the gap" if U.S. forces withdrew. To give meaning to Tehran's claim, the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army of Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr appeared poised to take control of the key Iraqi city of Basra in the wake of a British pullback. And attacks by the Mahdists on rival Shi'ite groups in Karbala took more than 50 lives during a major religious festival. Sheik al-Sadr plans to strengthen his militia over the next six months to prepare for the end of the U.S. surge. President Bush responded to the Iranian threat in his speech to the American Legion, but he is already doing more than just threatening to declare the Iranian Revolu...
...Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf states do not have the manpower to match Iran, so ...Cooperation on missile defense, maritime patrol, counterterror... it opposition to the arms sales: 114 members of the U.S. House (96 Democrats, 18 Republicans) r...Business and Industry Council. Copyright (c) 2007 The Washington Times LLC.Provi...
ver las páginas en versión mobile | web
ver las páginas en versión mobile | web
© Copyright 2012, vLex. All Rights Reserved.
Contents in vLex United States
Explore vLex
For Professionals
For Partners
Company
Other interesting searches:
Delegation Our | boston medical nlrb | 5 usc 2103 | Dean McDermott | Sue Sky | Principio de pacta sunt servanda | Juzgados de distrito | obra teatro | contraventions de la quatrième classe | gambia turismo
