GCC states need comprehensive defensive strategy

The King of Bahrain's advisor for diplomacy Mohammed Abdulghaffar said that Gulf Cooperation Council states need a "comprehensive strategy" focused on developing "true joint defensive policies." Abdulghaffar - who heads the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, also known as Derasat - drew a comparison with the NATO alliance, which he said updates its strategy every 10 years. "This strategy should be able to tackle threats and should possess a widescale network of cooperation with foreign partners ," he said in a speech at the opening of the GCC National and Regional Security Conference, organized by Derasat. It does not necessarily have to mirror other international blocs, but should cooperate with them, and Gulf states need only to work as a solid regional unit in order to achieve their stability and security. Separating or withdrawing from this is no longer possible, he said, "due to the huge strategic losses" this may inflict on each of the six countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - in the case of their detachment. The region has been witnessing conflicts since the 1980s up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which shock the stability of that country - with its repercussions felt in Gulf states, he added. All these changes have pushed Gulf states to ponder how best to protect their themselves from outside threats by nations that do not want what is best for the region, said Abdulghaffar