The US and the Gulf States: Uncertain Partners in a Changing Region
Source: Atlantic Council (Read full story)
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The United States and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) share vital interests. In addition to core mutual defense needs, the Gulf is a major market for US exporters and remains an important source of petroleum. Yet the shared political, security, and commercial interests of the Gulf states and the United States have not translated into the deep mutual trust that form the basis of long-term alliances. Such trust is undercut by a US perspective dominated by ill-informed views of the Gulf states, often failing to distinguish one from another, worrying primarily about the export of Islamic extremism and terrorism from the Gulf region, and critical of non-representative governance structures and treatment of women and minorities within their borders.
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The Gulf States and Syria
Source: Open Democracy (Read full story)
Syrians prepare to mark the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashir al-Assad against the backdrop of an escalating civil conflict. A fractured opposition has notably been unable to tip the balance of power in its favour. Regional and international condemnation of Assad has failed to force him to the negotiating table. The heady days of the civilian uprising of 2011 are now a distant memory in the bloodiest front-line of the ‘Arab Spring.’ From the start, the Gulf States played a prominent role in shaping regional responses to the Syrian uprising. This did not emerge from a vacuum but instead represents part of an effort to maximize Gulf interests in the regional upheaval, however ill-defined they may be.
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IDEX Showcase: Regional Security is a Rising Mideast Concern
Source: Defense News (Read full story)
With the impending near-term threat of sequestration in the United States and the certain decrease in U.S. defense spending over the next five years, markets in the Middle East and Asia stand out as key customers for American aerospace and defense companies in search of new and sustainable business opportunities. Against this backdrop, Abu Dhabi’s International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2013) in February and the Dubai Air Show, taking place in November, have emerged as the “must attend” trade events for the industry.
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Gulf force the Peninsula Shield begins war games in Kuwait
Source: The National (Read full story)
Joint Gulf force the Peninsula Shield began a 17-day exercise in Kuwait yesterday as officials said the war games were not related to unrest in the region. “The exercise was prescheduled and agreed for years. It is unrelated to any regional or political events,” the head of Kuwaiti army public relations, Brigadier Abdulaziz al-Rayes, was cited as saying by the KUNA news agency.
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Illegal visa trade being monitored
Source: The Peninsula (Read full story)
The agency responsible for fighting human trafficking says it is monitoring at least 60 cases that have been filed in the courts against companies that trade in work visas. The visas are genuine but the companies that have sold the visas don’t have jobs and accommodation for their victims, many of whom have gone to court demanding justice. The Qatar Foundation for Combating Human Trafficking has set up offices at the Preliminary Court, as also at the Labour Court, to keep a close track on the cases that are filed by the victims of the illegal visa trade.
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Exclusive: U.N. monitors see arms reaching Somalia from Yemen, Iran
Source: Reuters (Read full story)
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The U.N. Security Council’s sanctions monitoring team’s concerns about Iranian and Yemeni links to arms supplies for al Shabaab militants come as Yemen is asking Tehran to stop backing armed groups on Yemeni soil. Last month Yemeni coast guards and the U.S. Navy seized a consignment of missiles and rockets the Sanaa government says were sent by Iran.
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