Manama summit … about British Gulf strategic partnership

Manama summit … about British Gulf strategic partnership

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Manama hosted, on 6 and 7 December, the work of the session of the 37th of the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Summit has taken unusual character  in the general context, but it carried in its  special context  an exceptional character, ranging from symbolism of  place that held in  it, the Bahraini capital, more Gulf entities affected by Iranian interference, through participating of the  prominent British Prime Minister Theresa May at the summit.

The presence of May in the Gulf summit  is    attendance of double  messages, reflecting on the one hand  the British desire to correct the British Gulf track, and US approval and  on the other hand reflects the openness and change in the Gulf policies, mainly in the form of summits that are no longer just the annual meetings, it has become appropriate to assess the situation and review the challenges and identify public policies that protect the Gulf, taking into account the specificity of each country.

The participation of the British Prime Minister at the GCC summit after a year of  similar attendance of  French President Francois Hollande, who was the first Western president to attend the summit since the birth of the Cooperation Council in 1981.and the  US President Barack Obama  took part in  of  the last April in the Gulf summit in Riyadh, in an attempt to reassure the Gulf states about US openness to Iran, with the signing of the nuclear deal, the Gulf leaders fear could lead to additional Iranian interventions in the region.

The new president of the  British government, Theresa May, attended  the leaders of the Gulf states meeting and made a  comprehensive,  rich speech  dealt with the past ,  present and the future  .   A reserved political leader , she was the Minister of Interior for several years, and know the nature of the security risks posed by chaos, gangs, and know very well  the states that feed chaos and invest  the terrorism .she was clear as she talks about the UK , knows  who they are friends and who are not, and  went back  to memory for  several centuries, telling  us about Britain’s historic relations with the Arabian Sea and the Arabian Peninsula, it was smart in a timely choice of these memories , it focused on the old economic partnership through the historic East India company in 1660.

The  summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain inaugurated the  resume  of  Britain’s traditional role before the independence of a number of six members of the GCC – who was known by the   Gunboat Diplomacy,  Manama summit  produced   the GCC  – Britain agreement  to deter Iran and a strategic partnership to address the security threats and a commitment  of  Britain to protect the security of the six Gulf states .  The message  of the Prime Minister of Britain Theresa May,  through her stay as a guest of honor at the GCC summit last week , was very clear, as she said: « your prosperity  is completely our prosperity just as Gulf security is our security», saying: «I am open-eyed about the threat posed by Iran to the Gulf and the Middle East widely », and vowing to« work together to deter aggressive actions of Iran in the region, whether in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, or the Gulf itself ».

the Gulf summit came, chaired by Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, this year in the midst of critical conditions and amid unprecedented circumstances, where there are a large package of crucial issues, and  the  international polarization reached high degree , and  the forces of extremism and terrorism is   increasing in ferocity, as well as the risks  and the threats which the orientations  and practices have been caused  by Iran in the region,  and the economic challenges following the significant drop in  the oil  prices . if the Gulf Union was not born in concrete and realistic  bases , as demanded by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (2015-2005); during the Riyadh summit, in December 2011, the final statement of the summit  and  the statements of Gulf leaders affirm that the seriousness of integration between the Arab Gulf states, the non- conversion  of the Gulf cooperation Council to the Gulf Union does not mean that the Council in its current form can not be  the six strong bloc  in the world, as previously announced by the Crown of  Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As for the dreamers of the Gulf Union put off the hopes of realizing their dream  to the summit of the  next year in Kuwait, hoping that  the Sultanate of Oman to be convinced  which is  opposing  to this idea, there was a tribute to the progress at the level of “Achieving defense integration among the GCC countries in order to build a strong strategic partnership and the establishment of an effective defense system to counter the various challenges and threats, and the steps that have been made to create a unified military command “. observers  indicate that the Arab Gulf states already moved from the stage of thinking about the armament to the stage of thinking about the need to use this weapon when needed, especially since the policy of good neighborliness is no longer useful with Iran, which sees the weakness and lack of Gulf’s ability to respond.

the warnings that emerged from the summit were headed  directly to Iran; where the leaders of the Arab Gulf States called it  to change its policy in the region to abide by the rules of international law, and expressed “condemnation for the continuation of Iranian interference in the internal affairs of the GCC countries,” .  these warnings  were supported by the  British prime minister Theresa May, that she told Gulf states leaders who were gathering   that Britain will support the Gulf states in “response to aggression ”  of Iran, vowing to consolidating a “strategic partnership” with these countries, who  she sees   in the changing  of defense doctrine a profitable  market for investment in the fields of armament and training, especially in light of the differences with the US United, which came closer  with Iran.

May said ,  participate in the GCC summit, “We (…) that we continue to face the Parties (…) which   their acts  increase of instability in the region.”  May added, “I would like to assure you that I am fully aware of the threat that Iran poses for the Gulf and Middle East region.” She continued, “We have to work together to address the aggressive actions of Iran in the region.”

British prime minister’s visit to Manama was the first in the Gulf region, and titled «Britain’s return to the Gulf», to quote by  the Gulf veteran political observer. This return comes at a time, as seen by the people of the Gulf and especially the people of Bahrain, which is considered « soft loin »   for the Iranian interference in the affairs of the Gulf states.  The presence of Britain’s momentum in the naval base in Bahrain to ensure a  deterrent to Bahrain to be taken in to account   by  all concerned, particularly Iran. Bahrain is in need of a partner  that understands the Bahrain combination  and has historical ties with it  and  can be relied upon.

This does not mean that Bahrain or the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has decided to dispense with the historical and security ties with the United States or replace the strategic partnership with the United States in partnership with the UK exclusively .Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was clear by emphasizing that enhanced and expanded  strategic partnership   with Britain is not in response to any US withdrawal from the region, and an indication to dispense with the Gulf States for the strategic relationship with the United States, and there is no intention to replace these with those. Moreover, the final statement of the summit included Manama look to «strengthen the historical and strategic relations with the United States.»

This does not negate the clear  reality  despite the Gulf states hope to renew the traditional American concern to it , which is that Britain has taken the decision not to wait for the clarity of the unknown American policies towards the Gulf region. Britain took the initiative to remove any ambiguity or hesitation about British  – Gulf relations  that   the government of Theresa May wants , particularly in the wake of the «Brexit»,   based on a strong institutional commitment to expand the Gulf – British partnership and consolidation at all levels through comprehensive , strategic and institutional  dialogues  based on  security, economy, technology pillars and intelligence data. This came in the midst of the Gulf suspicions towards US policies especially in the era of Barack Obama, and on the eve of anticipation of what is in the  Donald Trump  pocket. British reassurance came at a time when the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is in the most need to confirm the correlation between them and the  an important Western power.

In an interview of her  with  Turki al-Dakhil   in a   « Al-Arabiya» channel , the  British prime minister stressed that the Gulf states are allied to us, but Iran is not. And added  « to preserve the  Gulf security and its prosperity is keeping Britain’s security and prosperity.» She talked about the return of the British presence, through the an inauguration   of  military base in Bahrain, and confirm the qualitative alliance with the Gulf States, and attack Iran’s evil policies .who is a real contributor to the war on terrorism, and who is the manufacturer of it, at the moment the others are accused of supporting terrorism !We mean, for example, the bad essay of Foreign Minister of Khomeini regime  , Zarif,  in the newspaper «New York Times»? Ms. Mai revealed in her speech before the leaders of the Gulf,  that the Saudi Arabia contributed to saving the lives of hundreds of British persons , through security cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Britain. It seems that the times  of the Iranian jamming, and with the defeatism   of  Obama, did not succeed in falsifying the  reality, and reality says that the interests between Britain and the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, in each area   are  greater than the possibility to  its  ignorance  .Newspaper «The Daily Telegraph» published an article stating that «Britain relies heavily on intelligence information obtained by Saudi Arabia to keep it safe», stressing that «the center of these circumstances, we have to work with the Saudis and not blame them». Not to mention the joint  Gulf-British   intelligence cooperation in the fight against terrorist organizations  such as  Daesh and  al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

there was and still  a look of suspicion and distrust and mutual hostility between successive British governments and the Government of the  Velavel  Faqih  and according to indicators of the Center for rawabet center for  Research and Strategic Studies that “Ali Khamenei”   Murshed  of the Iranian revolution is  unrelieved  of the British behavior despite the fact that the UK was among nations that were  supporting the nuclear deal  and itd continuous quest to enhance security and stability in the Gulf region in particular and the Middle East in general. But it seems that the Iranian regime did not take  the lesson  properly  from the fall  of the regime in Iraq in 2003.

The British  imminent exit from the European Union and the quest to find an alternative, in addition to looking at the GCC as the largest importer of British goods and a major source of energy;  all these reasons are behind the presence of British Prime Minister Theresa May to the  GCC summit in Bahrain . Perhaps the British government concluded that the best way to compensate them for potential losses as a result of its withdrawal from the European Union, lies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Theresa May has pledged to work hard to conclude a free trade agreement between Britain and the Gulf Cooperation Council and her  mission to the GCC summit was: The time has come to reaffirm their unequivocal commitment British  – Gulf relationship  at all levels to achieve security, prosperity and investment, so that « your prosperity is  our prosperity as your security is our security» .

It is an opportunity for partnership noting that the Gulf countries are the second largest  non-European importer of British goods and services, while the value of Gulf investments in Britain’s 150 billion pounds (pound equals US $ 1.26). This British GCC summit is an opportunity for British leader to express her country’s desire to consolidate its business partnership  and historical ties with these countries, especially as the country looks in dire need of commercial outlets after they leave the union that negotiates on behalf of its members . according to  Keith poevald , adviser in the economies of the affairs of  what is known by Brexit  (out of the European Union), this British initiative linked to Britain’s growing role in Bahrain, especially after the establishment of the first British Royal Navy base in Bahrain.

Poevald says  Britain is  searching  to promote stronger trade relations with the Gulf countries away from the European Union, and added that the British Minister of International Trade Liam Fox “has a great interest in the Gulf countries,” which is one of the most important global sources of energy, pointing out that it is interesting that this government defends about its  arms sales to Saudi Arabia. ” This would be  for London  to be center for the  investment  in the Gulf reserve  funds and investment funds as well.

In a joint statement issued by the summit meeting of cooperation  Council with  the United Kingdom , the leaders decided to build on a long-term cooperation to unlock the full potential of trade and investment to their relations, both bilaterally and with the region as a whole, including the preservation of the United Kingdom as the largest foreign investor in the region. The total volume of bilateral trade between the GCC and the United Kingdom more than thirty billion pounds last year, as the summit saw the ads include a number of key sectors, including health care and the economy of creativity, knowledge, education, finance, defense and security. British economic ambitions seem justified in the light of talk about economic integration of the GCC countries, which constitutes a major pillar of support for security and stability. GCC leaders have stressed their support for the Commission’s economic and development affairs of  high level, which aims to develop cooperation in economic affairs.

The Gulf security  is the  Britain’s security. ” So  the British Prime Minister Theresa Maa said .   the  British minister who attended  asthe guest of honor for the GCC summit in Manama, expressed its quest to enhance cooperation in the fields of security and defense with the Gulf countries. The Government of   Mai  has identified   next March  the date for the start of formal negotiations with the Union on the way out of the European bloc, and find  itself  forced to re-negotiate with the countries of the world, especially the Gulf countries, in order to conclude a single commercial agreements.

2017  is the year of  Bahrain,  which means the  presidency  of  the Gulf Cooperation Council   before  moving  the presidency in 2018 to Kuwait. The start of the presidency was an important  jump  in the security affairs of the Gulf region and the  message of support  was strong, particularly through the historic official visit  of the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Bahrain. Saudi Arabia, according to King Hamad bin Issa said: «represents the strategic depth of the Arab Gulf and the basic pillar in the conservation and security of the region’s stability and its  safety valve ». As for Britain, it  returned to the Gulf strongly across the marine gateway in Bahrain. This is of significance  to relieve the people of the Gulf and make them more satisfied.

 

Rawabet Center for  Research and Strategic Studies