Foreign Policy: Gulf states doubt US ability to protect them

Gulf states, in the wake of Iranian attacks, no longer believe that the United States can protect them, reports Foreign Policy.

For a long time, the regional order in the Gulf was based on US security guarantees. Leaders of Gulf countries believed that they had better relations with US President Donald Trump than with previous American leaders.

They appreciated his keen interest in the region’s financial opportunities and his preference for autocracy over democracy. They also noted his stance on ceasefire efforts in the Gaza Strip and his support for the new authorities in Syria, according to the article.

“They [Gulf leaders] can hardly believe U.S. impotence at protecting oil installations and shipping, and the United States’ inability or unwillingness to rapidly refresh their dwindling stocks of interceptors. There is a profound sense that U.S. military bases have become a source of threat rather than security,” the magazine wrote.

This growing doubt has come as a shocking revelation for a region long seen as an oasis of stability and prosperity in the Middle East, Foreign Policy added.