Thinking beyond Yemen

The painful loss of 45 Emirati, 10 Saudi and five Bahraini soldiers in Yemen last week confirmed the seriousness of the commitment to jointly confront regional challenges.
The Gulf political and military cooperation is not only important to win wars, but more so to solidify the concept of deterrence. The cost is very high for the other party against a joint force.
Since 2011, the region is faced with huge challenges. It will probably continue for the next few years and result in more threats to the region’s countries. This necessitates Gulf cooperation to prevent foreign interference and the spread of chaos.
Regional shifts and chaos are due to regional conflicts such as Iran versus the Gulf, but also due to internal conflicts such as the Muslim Brotherhood against the Egyptian state, Houthi rebels and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against the legitimate government in Yemen, the Syrian opposition against the Assad regime, the Libyan government against armed opposition groups. Another factor is the emergence of terrorist organizations like Daesh and Al-Qaeda destabilizing Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and their neighbors.
The sanctity of borders has practically collapsed and the generally accepted rules of engagement are no longer respected. Regional countries no longer have the choice of dissociating themselves. Their options have become few — their most notable one is to defend themselves, as with the Gulf states vis-à-vis Yemen, Turkey in regard to Syria, and Egypt in regard to Libya.
This is in addition to hedging against possible threats and wars, like Jordan is doing vis-à-vis Iraq and Syria. Another important factor is Iran’s direct and major military interference — for the first time in its modern history, it is involved in two wars in Arab countries: Iraq and Syria. We must also not underestimate the importance of the humanitarian crises in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.
Regional powers are engaged in regular and multiple battles. This exhausts states, armies, people and governments’ financial resources. The status quo highlights the importance of cooperation. Saudi-Emirati military and political cooperation has reached an unprecedented level in the history of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reaching its peak in the war in Yemen.
With Qatar’s military involvement in Yemen and Bahrain before it, Gulf countries can establish a diverse force capable of defending themselves and their interests beyond Yemen. This is the first time that there is cooperation without standing behind a superpower, such as the war to liberate Kuwait 25 years ago. Gulf countries’ power is also increasing in the diplomatic and economic realms.