The Middle East has enough problems as it is.
The war in Gaza may be suspended for the time being, but the Trump administration’s struggle to cobble together an international coalition to disarm Hamas means President Trump’s 20-point peace plan is tenuous at best. Iran’s nuclear and missile programs were dealt a setback after the 12-day war in June, yet Tehran’s attempt to rebuild its military capacity has led Trump to threaten another attack. Syria, meanwhile, remains in a difficult transition period, in which the new government, led by former Al-Qaeda commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, is trying to consolidate his authority.
Now we can add a crisis in the Persian Gulf to the mix, one that could complicate the Trump administration’s wider diplomatic agenda in the region. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of Washington’s closest partners in the Middle East, are now at each other’s throat in Yemen, a perpetually chaotic country that has been in a state of civil war for the last decade.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are traditionally described as strategic partners, if not allies.
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