Our final topic, picked by you, dear listeners, earlier in a poll on our Facebook page, is “Arab NATO: The Idea That Just Won't Die”, focusing on why this idea is still being peddled.
The Saudi Foreign Minister recently reaffirmed that the GCC is still negotiating a security pact with the US despite the so-called “Arab NATO” being a long-discussed idea that never seems to amount to anything. He made his remarks while speaking at the organization's annual meeting last weekend, reminding the world that this idea just won't die despite the many difficulties inherent to its inception. The general idea of a mutual defense treaty between the US, the GCC, and their Egyptian ally is simple enough, but the first main challenge lies in rectifying the intra-organizational split between Qatar and the rest of the bloc.
Secondly, should that first very serious issue surprisingly be surmounted, there are obvious questions about the distribution of responsibilities within this military alliance and whether it'll form the institutional basis for more concerted integrational moves between its members. This is a very sensitive issue since some of the smaller Gulf Kingdoms, like Qatar of course, fear falling under Saudi hegemony and losing their sovereignty. Furthermore, in the event that these two challenges are somehow addressed, then the issue of the bloc's official relationship to the US' Israeli ally…
