Shawn Brimley, Ilan Goldenberg and Nicholas Heras write:\u00a0 As President Barack Obama and the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sit down at Camp David this week, the White House\u2019s goal is clear: reassure America\u2019s Middle Eastern partners that it remains committed to their security. But the summit is clearly not off to a good start, with only two of the six GCC monarchs planning to attend \u2014 and King Salman of Saudi Arabia waiting until the last moment to announce he is not coming.<\/p>\n
According to media reports, the Obama administration is preparing to assuage skepticism toward the potential nuclear agreement with Iran by focusing on new security arrangements and billions of dollars in weapons that the United States may offer to sell to the Gulf states. Arms sales and security guarantees may be a piece of the equation \u2014 but they won\u2019t be enough. The most effective way for the Obama administration to make headway with the Gulf is by signaling a more comprehensive approach to countering Iranian influence in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
What the Gulf states fear most is that in the aftermath of a nuclear agreement, the United States will cut a deal with Tehran to divide the region and abandon its Arab partners. Saudi Arabia has been the most vocal in expressing concerns that the United States is so interested in achieving an agreement on the nuclear question that it is willing to tolerate Iran\u2019s unchecked influence throughout the region. To many of America\u2019s partners, Iranian nuclear ambitions are inextricably linked to Tehran\u2019s aggressive support of its proxies through the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which provides training, funding, and support for Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, the Houthis in Yemen, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, among other groups.<\/p>\n
In the end, it will not be possible for President Obama to fully reassure America\u2019s regional allies in the aftermath of a nuclear deal with Iran. Their concerns about a \u201cPersian pivot\u201d will remain, and their distrust of the president will make U.S. relations with the Gulf states difficult. But if Obama is able to begin to implement an effective reassurance strategy, he can hand off a better situation to his successor \u2014 who will have to do the bulk of the work in repairing some of America\u2019s relations with the Gulf states in the aftermath of a nuclear deal with Iran.\u00a0 US and Gulf States Confer May 2015<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shawn Brimley, Ilan Goldenberg and Nicholas Heras write:\u00a0 As President Barack Obama and the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sit down at Camp David this week, the White House\u2019s goal is clear: reassure America\u2019s Middle Eastern partners that … Continue reading